150 Years 1872-1886 The Dalles THE DECADES OF HISTORY March 30, 2007 PART TWO OF THE DALLES CHRONICLE'S TEN-PART SERIES. NO FOLDING 'TENTS LIKE ARABS' THINGS ABOUT OUR CITY - Perhaps the most striking feature of our city to a stranger is the number of pleasant homes, not merely places to stay at, but home-like spots, where one may see comfort at least and often elegance. Many times during the past summer we have heard strangers remark concerning the number of pleasant residence which grace our little town, so different from most places of its size on this Coast. We were thinking over some of the improvements of the year. We have grown a little, and that little has been a permanent growth. Not a simple pitching of tents or nailing up of shanties; 'tis not that our town is full this Winter, but that during the past season our citizens have been gathering about them the things which betoken permanence. We can count several places in town that have become attractive in the line of a hang-up-your-hat-ativeness. New siding, new shingles, new fences, new houses, new paint, newly arranged gardens, newly planted trees and vines, are signs of homes and home-life. We have been perhaps too much a nomadic people. The tendency of the people and things on our Coast is to "fold their tents like the Arabs, and like them steal away." To seek new pastures, rather than strive to enrich the old, where the grass grows short. Hence, we feel like taking courage for the future, in the knowledge that pleasant homes with cheerful hearts in them and strong arms to sustain and protect them, are the surest indices of steady growth and healthy prosperity. December 26, 1874 Incoming and Outgoing messages protected by Trend Micro PC-cillin program