New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-01-30
PUGET SOUND.
rupsr or THE FAR NORTHWEST.

| -RrsoURcEs OF THE TERRIToRY-GAhDLLSG
IN THE sAw-MIIL TOWNS.
,no,, ,yocc,s,oyAtc CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE.l
SEATTLE. w. T., Dec. 26-There are often
| objects of wonderful natural beauty In ones own
comfy in the East that never goes 10 see Inc
that they are so home robs them OF any
The same principle applies 10 region SO lar distant
trom the East rs the plains and the mountains oeyohu
the Mississippi People the East scarce realize what
this region is because it Is part OF their own territory
and curiosity is not excited in regard to H. All taIes
! about the land beyond the Mississippi are us
| counted literally. Seeing only what one sees III
the East the OF Western are too largo 10 DO
believed Strawberries ripenng in the open air IN DO
cember travellers tying their teams to the tops Oh m
trees because the deepj horses travelling III
snow-shoes timber 300 feet high the gold the silver
IL Is hard 10 believe Nevertheless the hat mas never
been told or the Puget Sound region, scarce anyone
knows anything yet except its name, at least among the
Eastern readers of THE TRIBUNE. Perhaps If they dd
know about IT, they might not take lively interest IN u
until they learned that money can be made here) De-
cause it is merely home region 1t belongs TO the
| United States; it has no history; IL lacAs the
attraction of a people dwelling ON lts SOIL VINO
| speak a foreign tongue. Yet, If Puget Sound were
| as accessible as tue Mediterranean Sea, and a
! foreign flag hoated over its rising citles II wOud
probably be the yachting ground of the whole word
It's forests would attract the eager hunters OF every
nation Its peaks snOwcad from summit to root whch
surpass the Alps III beauty ana are equalleu
except by tne Himaayas would be about the only ones
on of the earth worth gong far TO climb Does
this seem tail talk Let your readers come TO Puget
Sound and Judge They will surely see, a. all VINO WISH
the region do Sound must some day become ono
OF greatest resorts for pleasure seekers III the cO
! try.
10 reach Puget SOUND one takes the overland train to
Sau Francisco and then of the excellent line Oh iron
ocean steamers which up along the coast direct TO
all Puget sound ports The drst two days from
San Francisco little on shore except the
round bald headed hills which characterize the scenery
of California Then the hills change Id appearance
They are higher aud are covered with dense forests OF
| redwood timber. Then the ranges begin to display
growth OF m and finally, when the coast OF Washington
Territory is reached one looks upon savage Will
derness Of hills mountains, covered with continuous
and mpenctrabc forests gigantic frs when the loot OF
man has threaded and probably VIII not or goou
and sufficient reasons Tor a hundred years more The
| timber covers the face Of the land to tine waters
edge; and this is not only true of the ocean
| coast but of the whole OF Puget
Sound from the entrance TO the nner0st emu Oh
! every one ofits numerous arms ana spranglng ca
mails" Trere very small towns on me ocean
coast and there scattered along the
! Sound In its course OF 200 mites from tue ocean to
Olympia at the bead Most OF these villages are "saw-
dust towns owing their origin solely to the large saw
nills located there for converting the yellow fir INTO
lumber Tor the market. Their site is generally revealed
IN the distance by tall columns OF smoke, rising From
large bon fires which burn day and night from ono end
! of the year the other, IN order to consume the
huge piles ol waste the sawills But these towns
are so far apart and there little other evidence Of
te presence Of man IN this great wilderness, that tho
! region seems almost uninnablted
TIE MEDITERRANEAN OF THE WEST.
The depth ana beauty tue water both oil the straits
and OF the Sound s what first nPresscs the visitor,
especially hc mad any previous experience with the
nf1 4il,rfll a
with the Columbia River bar The boatmaus saying
| il a familiar one that "Igh land makes deep
! shore" II is exempihcd here. The water OF
PUGET Sound Is almost too deep, in fact There Is
scarcely thing less than hundred iathoms OF water
anywhere so the ship captains say 1t is nard to ind
good anchorage ground for the large lumber vessels
which pass in and out here increasingly, and which are
Obliged anchor at times owing 10 sudden io6s ana
other causes. Their cables rule, not more than
seventy ninety fatnoms long II is remarkable
that the shores should plunge down under water 80
ccpy and depth attained should he so great when
The width OF the sound is scarcely anywhere more than
tan miles and is Tor most of its length, much less So
lerp are the clear wa OF this Mediterranean OF the
West, that great commodore OF tho United states
Navy nnoccnty almost ruined the chances OF one OF
m PUGET Sound towns for being the na terminus oil the
Northern Pacific Railroad, by taking his ship up to the
town On sDuuIiHg the wafer for anchorage ground, he
failed ~ HnI as little thirty atlom5 OF water any
where txctDt III on. place and that near the bank
thar there was danger the snip going ashore, when
swinging win tire tide. He had to depart and anchor
al the one other place where there is a large nat
oral bay. aii1rjng excellent advantages Oh Tie
kind he Sc .."S.
The pure waters OF this great Sound swarm with
fish There are ciglty-dyo varieties it is said. The
salmon ia the prince OF FISH hore. The catch OF salmon
sometimes amounts to 400OO.00O pounds year. A
species Of cod also very abundant II IL dried and
sailed in large quantities annually oyster AMI clam
-f,s 81. Tally Nlh nf a,
traordnary size and beauty abound here; and cold
these pure waters are spite Of that they full of
phosphoresccnt insects, which often flash from the pad
de-whecls Of tho steamboats, like burst OF sparks Let
the traveller ascend Hoods canal" an arm OF the
soupd about two miles wide and fifty miles long,
ming mt the base of the Olympic mountains, in canoe
padded by few powerful Indians, and
let the Journey last into tho night With every
plunge the broad blades of the paddles into the dark
green water he will quick fash OF bright specks in
the water around each blade and in ripple of such
beauty as n tourist seldom sees
The Sound has a water surface Of 5000 square miles
and coast line of 1900 miles There shoals
or submerged rocks The sound ia protected from high
Winds and ships OF the deepest draught and in any mum
Der can ride in safety on its surface
There are gold and silver in tho mountain ranges
adjacent TO Puget Sound. though to what exten
is not yet fully known The difficulty OF getting to and
from the mountains has prevented prospecting. Cop
per lead and iron also found and the iron being
rapidly developed Both excellent bog aud mineral
ores abound Seattle has already several iron factories
and extensive preparations being made for furnaces
and shops Port Townsend aud other places Fuel ia
abundant Firewood costs next to nothing, and there
are 10 900 square miles Of coal lands in Washington
Territory some OF which being already mined At
Seattle the veins from gig to 81 feet thick From
900 to 200 tons n re mined daily The coal is brought
down 10 the water by a short railway, and there loaded
upon sailing vessels Of the largest class. The Oregon
Railway and Navigation Company has lately had four
large iron steam GOLFERS built upon the Delaware
River which be put into the trade OF this coast
,MoNG