, 1873-07-25

rivalry botwoon Tacoma and soatt1o, ono Of tho
largest and most dourishiug towns on tho
Sound, and quietly waitod for tho bol1igoronts
to send In their offers. Tacoma WAS tho first to
do 80, md bid 1000 aoros Of lind, worth about
e1,000,00O. Seattle "aav " tl,in bid, offered tho
samo amount Of laud and 500, 600 In oaah bosilos
Tho hundred forlorn inhabitants Of Taooma
woro too poor to rniBo thousand dollars apiece
aud go 1t waR supposed that soattlo would bo
tito torrninus. Meanwhile tho Commission clrcu=
latod rumors TINT it1 agont WAS buying lands
abont Stoilaooom with tho view Of making that
town tho terminus. This by-p1ey Of tho Com
mission Ind tho dosired otfoot to spur up tho
land spooulatora Of Seattle and Tacoma into
another rivalry, which finally resulted In m
ofror from the latter, which Seattle could not
"raiso." Taooma, therefore, village Of specu-
1ators, which has not yot got into tho gazottcers,
and was noyor botoro heard Of, is ono terminus,
while Duluth, a city Of spoculators,
is tho other. Tho thriving town. Of
Steilacoom. Soatt1e, and Olympia, tho
Capital Of tho Torritory, which aro already
doing largo business in tho 1shorios and lum-
ber, rotire. Wo shall now probably have glowing
accounts from Tacoma, attractive statements OF
its adyantngoB to settlers, wonderful exhibits Of
tho rapid rHe Of roal estate. descriptions Of the
como maps Of tho parks, boulevards, shore
driyos, and other ornamental possibilities Of Ta-
coma. Tho spoculatora must got back their cash
donation md their million dollars worth Of 1and
In como mnnuor.
Tho Puget Sound Dispatch, which ropresontod
soattlo In tho competition, anyB TINT tho contest
ralaed by Tacoma was only tho management Of
ring Of spectators who had boon thrown out
Of tho Railroad Company, hoadod by E. s. Smith,
tho ngont OF the old Lake Superior and Pugos
Sound ring, aldod by tho local spoculatoEs Of IT,
conn, and adda tho following statement: "By
combining with local spectators thoy
havo puffcd tho wild region covered only
by paper town into IN Important rival to
Seattle, and Offer to the Railroad Company
large tract Of wild land. boaring only spooula-
two value, % an offset to tho city property al-
ready mado valuable by the improvements,
thrift, and enterprise Of population numbering
nearly 5000. Seattle, BY It's superior natural ad-
vantages, has become tho commercial contro OF
tho Sound, with millions Of dollars invested in
permanent improvemonts, wlilo Tacomn has
only aaw-mill in tho Wilderness, surrounded by
logging camps, with no valuo to its lands for
town purposes other than would bo givon it by
railroad improvements for tho benclt Of specn-
lators only" Tho Kalama Beacon, which is a
disntorostod party, probably gives fairor stato-
ment. 1t says: -. -
Tacomn In down tho Sound on tho east ede 81 miles
north Of Olympia, in rorco County, and contains
about 100 inhabitants. It Ia situated On Commence
mant Bay the atte being tho west aido upon oh
tnso triangular peninsula, between tho Narrows nnd
Commencement Bay, the base line on tho south
between tho bay aud NarrowB extending cast and west
about Six miles, nnd tho north and south ycrte1 on
tho wea sdo Of tho pcninaula about the length
to IT. Defiance. The town contains atean saw-1nl
owned by anaon, Aokorson l. Co.; tho public achool,
public hall, hotel, and store. The country BUR
open prairie.
Considering that the road must leriyo Its
chief revenue from Portland and Seattle, that
Tacoma has ut pres cnt no trade at all, aud that
for long time to come 1t can havo only tho
empty name Of terminus, 1t has evidently paid
pretty dearly for its whistle.