, 1879-08-14


Sound. We are at the commencement of
inland navigation. There is not above 25
cents difference for large amounts Of
freight from the Swinomish fats, between
Port Townsend and any other available
harbor on Puget Sound. I have endea-
vored to present the splendid situation of
this magnificent town as briefly as laid In
my power. Inow tall back to my first
idea--a fire engine Is Of no use without
water.
When yea 60 about getting water. SEQ
that you have plenty of it. Do not got to
the foolish expense Of building cisterns
which will give only limited supply, and
most probably require continual outlay
for repairs. Take a more liberal view.
Let us have water from the mountains; an
abundance Of it; water that is fit to
drink-water enough, not only to supply
the fire engine but the steamboat and the
steam engine Of whatever manufactures
may start in our midst. Water Is the
germ we want. Water will be the step
ping stone to the era Of prosperity which
will some day dawn on this beautiful vii
lagc. 1 ask what public spirit has ever
been shown TO enhance the value Of this
gifted location? What has ever been
done that your neighbor shall have the
benefit Of the same rs yourself? Where
are the profits Of the last twenty years,
that have Teen received from the trade
with the numerous strangers that have So
journed among you, from your constant
intercourse with the shipping, from the
large amounts Of money that government
has disbursed in your midst? II believe
we get as much government pap as any
other town In the Territory, steady at
that, and OF better qNality.) l answer
you, our profits have gone TO benefit San
Francisco, Portland and Eastern cities,
encouraging their manufactures. These
sources Of profit alone, with little ener-
gy on our part, would support popula-
ton of at least three thousand souls. Is
it not humiiating idea, when we think
of the immense amount Of money that
has been spent here, that nothing has
ever been done to forward any permanent
industry? Would not the steam engine
have been here long ago if we had been
able to supply 1t with water? Let us
have water, and soon you will see the
tsnnery. the shoe factory. the grist mill,
the machine shop and the foundry, and
then the banker with his money bags will
be only too happy to crawl after them.
Again, what are you going to do for your
children? Do you wish to bring them up
as "hewers of wood and drawers Of wa
ter" or. do you wish they shall desert
you as they grow old enough to forage tor
themselves, IN order that they may make
their livelihood by means more congenial?
leave it to yourselves to cogitate on this
idea. have always been Of the opinion
that there Is more money circulated here
than at any other town in the Territory,
not subject to gold mining influences, Of
double its population. In my opinion,
Port Townsend is so commercially sltua-
ted that she may become to Puget Sound
what Britain is to the continent Of Eu-
rope. True, she may not be queen, but
her splendid location for trade will always
give her some kind Of commercial supre-
macy. This little city Is nearly twenty
years old; do you not think it about time
to begin to learn how to tan our own
leather, to make our own shoes, to grind
our own grain, to manufacture our own
doors. window frames, boxes for the can
merry and fruit preserver? Have we not
the best location for the sale Of these man
uiactures, and will not the demand in
crease? Tell me, If You had water, have
you no mill site? There is hardly u spot
between Point Hudson and the head of
Hastings Lagoon that would not afford a
suitable locatian for factory for making
lumber and boxes. It could be arranged
so as to haul up sufficient water during the
periods OF high water to keep it going the
remainder Of the time, and to supply the
local demand for rough lumber also-say
q mill OF ten thousand feet day capacity.
not one OF the huge structures that are
being built atthis day to supply the world
with Lumber.
have endeavored to enumerate a few
of the advantages that would accrue to this
little city by the introduction of water,