OREGON. 



627 



The wool product of the year, according to 

 the best judgment, founded on careful esti- 

 mates, was 5,000,000 pounds. The following 

 is a comparative statement of the products of 

 five vears: 



YEARS. Pounds. 



1878 2,000,000 



1874 2,250,000 



1675 2,500,000 



YEARS. Ponndi. ' 



1876 8,150,000 



1877 5,000,000 



The salmon fisheries of the Columbia River 

 constitute one of the most important interests 

 of the State, the revenue derived therefrom 

 amounting to about $2,500,000 annually. The 

 fish is largely canned for exportation, and dur- 

 ing the year 380,692 cases were shipped to Eng- 

 land and San Francisco, little more than one- 

 third going to the former country. A fish- 

 propagating company has been organized with 

 a view to replenishing the waters of the State 

 and keeping up the stock. Works have been 

 established for hatching and distributing sal- 

 mon in large numbers. Among the other 

 products of the State shipped to San Francisco 

 during the year were 146,050 centals of oats, 

 73,282 boxes of apples, 37,081 sacks of potatoes, 

 87,090 hides, 15,612 cases of canned beef, etc. 



The question of improved means of trans- 

 portation by railroad and water continues to 

 occupy attention, but little progress was made 

 during the year. The aid of the Federal Gov- 

 ernment for the construction of the Northern 

 Pacific and the Portland, Dalles & Salt Lake 

 Railroads, and the improvement of the Colum- 

 bia River and the harbor of Portland, is gen- 

 erally favored by the people. The r era oval of 

 the large bar at the mouth of the Columbia is 

 especially demanded. The Portland Board of 

 Trade and other organizations concerned in 

 commerce and transportation have given ex- 

 pression to the general sentiment in favor of 

 government aid for railroad and navigation 

 improvements. 



The canal around the cascades of the Colum- 

 bia River, for which Congress has made an ap- 

 propriation of $90,000, has been surveyed, and 

 it is expected that work will begin at an early 

 day. The dimensions will be as follows : 



Fw*. 



Total length. Including breakwater T.200 



Width in cutting at surface at low water I 



Width in cutting at bottom at low water < 



Depth at high water over mitre sill 68 



Depth at low water over mitre Bill 



The total fall from the upper to the lower 

 landing, a distance of about 5| miles, is 88^ 

 feet; 26 feet of this is in the first 1J mile, the 

 rest being distributed over a distance of 4^ 

 miles. The fall of 26 feet at low water will 

 be overcome by two locks, of lifts of 12 and 14 

 feet respectively ; these locks will be 800 feet 

 long by 50 feet wide, the walls of solid ma- 

 sonry, the lower lock 72 feet high. 



The State University, organized in 1876, oc- 

 cupied the building at Eugene which was 

 erected by the Union University Association 

 of that place, and began its first term on the 

 16th of October of that year. J. W. Johnson 

 was chosen by the regents as president and 

 professor of the ancient classics, Mark Baily 

 professor of mathematics, Thomas Condon pro- 

 fessor of geology and natural history, and Mrs. 

 Mary P. Spiller principal of the preparatory 

 department, with Mary E. Stone as an assist- 

 ant. During the academic year there was an 

 attendance of 56 males and 24 females in the 

 collegiate department, and 82 males and 42 

 females in the preparatory department. The 

 expenditures amounted to $9,386.25, which 

 exceeded the income by $2,625.25. The basis 

 of the university fund is a grant of 46,080 acres 

 of public lands, made 20 years ago by Congress ; 

 but of these only 17.946.70 acres have been 

 sold thus far, and those at a very poor advan- 

 tage, realizing $38,604.90. At present the 

 fund amounts to $76,268.71, but $10,625.40 of 

 this is interest in arrears, and $18,494.75 is in 

 suit for collection upon notes of doubtful value. 

 The principal of the fund which can be relied 

 on as reasonably secure amounts to about 

 $55,000. The building at Eugene, which was 

 erected by an association of the citizens of that 

 place, is not entirely finished, and only the 

 lower part is furnished. Including a broad 

 portico at each end, it is 112 feet long, and its 

 breadth is 57 feet. It consists of a basement 

 and three stories, and is surmounted by a Man- 

 sard roof. It is substantially built of brick, 

 and has a commanding site consisting of 18 

 acres of land. The regents recommend that 

 the State take steps to enlarge the grounds 

 to fifty acres, complete the furnishing of the 

 building, and provide for a more substantial 

 income for the institution. 



The number of prisoners in the State Peni- 

 tentiary at the end of the year was 124. Dur- 

 ing the preceding 12 months 82 had been re- 

 ceived and 56 discharged. 



The valuation of property for purposes of 

 taxation in the city of Portland for the yenr 

 was $9,622,750. The city debt is $76,600, 

 the receipts and expenditures of the year 

 $112,760.24. 



In political matters there has been no inter- 

 est or activity, as no general election was held. 

 An investigation of charges of bribery, in con- 

 nection with the election of Governor Grover 

 to the United States Senate, was carried on 

 early in the year, bat no report of the rcwilt 

 can be made until the meeting of the Leginla- 

 ture in 1878. The circumstances connected 

 with the appointment of presidential electors 

 in 1876 and the giving of a certificate of elec- 

 tion to E. A. Cronin, one of the candidates 

 receiving only a minority of votes, were inves- 

 tigated by a committee of the United States, 

 by whom a report wns made in February. Aa 

 conclusions of law the committee fonnd : " First, 

 conceding Watts to have been ineligible, this 



