In the last city election, out of a total of eleven hundred names registered, nearly six hundred were of foreign birth. Of this number one hundred and seventy were natives of Finland, eighty-seven of Sweden, seventy-two of Norway, sixty-four of Germany, and forty of Denmark. The Finns are very clannish, which accounts for their almost exclusive Finnish settlement in West Astoria. It is their custom to send for their relatives in their own country as soon as they have earned the necessary money. In this way the foreign born population is steadily increasing. They do not appear to be a speculative class, but seem content to work hard, secure a home and save something from their yearly earnings though a few cooperative companies have been formed for the purpose of packing salmon. The struggle for material advancement in the way of developing resources, securing a railroad, and other enterprises has not been greatly aided by the foreign population. Since the coming of these foreign-born citizens the fishing element is no longer regarded as a rough class of people, but rather as the sober, working class of the city. During the winter months most of the fishermen are employed carpentering, street building, as workers in the mills and factories or engaged in knitting nets and preparing gear for the next season. Astoria at the present day is a cosmopolitan city of about ten thousand inhabitants, composed largely of foreigners. As in earlier times fishing is the main industry, though the rapidly growing lumber industry bids fair soon to surpass it in importance. At the present time there are only seven canneries in operation in Astoria, but the cold storage business has assumed large proportions during the past two years. Astoria now possesses an excellent water system, a thorough school system, consisting of six grammar schools and a high school, all together accommodating about fifteen hundred children and employing thirty-one teachers. Trade with the surrounding country has increased very rapidly during the last few years, but Astoria has been but little benefited by the increased export trade from the Columbia as most of the cargoes are shipped direct from Portland. During the ninety-two years of its existence Astoria has grown from a small fur-trading station to the second city in size in the State. While its growth has been apparently slow, it has kept pace with the development of Oregon and the Northwest as a whole. ALFRED A. CLEVELAND. A PIONEER CAPTAIN OF INDUSTRY IN OREGON.