Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 4.djvu/153

Rh locally as two separate towns. By the legislative act of 1891 the corporate limits of the town were extended so as to include upper town.

The intense rivalry between the companies operating steamers on the Portland-San Francisco route brought about the reduction of freight and passenger rates so that there was much travel between Oregon and California. As every steamer stopped several hours at Astoria the town received considerable patronage from the passengers. The Astorian speaks of the town being crowded during the stay of one of the ocean steamers. The Great Republic frequently carried a thousand passengers, and always took on a considerable part of its cargo at Astoria.

The population of Astoria in 1880 was two thousand eight hundred and three and the population of Clatsop County seven thousand two hundred and twenty-two. This increase in the number of people in the county meant much to Astoria, since the supplies for a large part of Clatsop County are taken from the city.

In 1883 the salmon industry reached its highest point. Not only were more fish canned than at any previous year but a better price than ever before was paid for the raw material, thus distributing a larger amount of money among the fishermen and cannery workers. During this season six hundred and twenty-nine thousand cases of salmon, valued at over $3,000,000, were packed on the Columbia River.

It was during this year that the fire, known locally as the "big fire," occurred. It started July 2, 1883, in the sawmill near the site now occupied by the Foard & Stokes Company and swept the entire water front from that point east to Seventeenth Street, including the large warehouse owned by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. The volunteer fire department worked heroically and succeeded after several hours in gaining con-