Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1882-04-16
OREGON.
A Letter About It's Towns. Its Poll
tics. Its Products, Its Prospects.

PORTLAND (Or.), April Z, 1882.
EDITOR SENTINEL: 1 promised your
readers some mention Of other towns on
the Sound beside Seattle. The next place
visited was New Tecoma. A steamer car
rying tho mails and passengers makes a
daily trip between the two places, connect
ing with the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Although New Tecoma is at present the
terminus, it is q question whether it
will remain SO. The people Of Seattle are
confident that their prosperous and rising
young city will be hereafter selected by the
railroad company as the permanent term
mus of the road on the Sound. New Te-
CONS is situated on L bay at the mouth Of
the Puyallup Valley, and has a population
Of about 1000. Besides the trade OF the
valley, coal mines and lumber mills con-
tribute TO its support. Neither the site
upon which it is built nor the character Of
the buildings render il an attractive place.
Upon our visit the residents were in an es-
pecially demoralized condition, having
just emerged from a struggle with small
pox, which had caused q quarantine and
damaged matters generally.
The N. P. r. r. is built from New Te-
coma to Kalama on the Columbia River.
The train leaves at Z A. M, reaching Ka-
lama at noon, where connection is
made with the steamer for Portland,
which point is reached in the even
ing. Instead of taking this route the
writer continued by steamer to Olympia,
at the head of the Sound, and the
Capital OF the Territory. The Tumwater
empties into the Sound at this point, the
falls at its mouth furnishing motive power
to several Touring mills and saw mills.
Olympia is attractively situated; has q
number of elegant houses, and substan-
TALLY built business houses. The impress
sion your correspondent received of the
people, though, was that they are a slow
going, sleepy crowd, lacking the brisk,
energetic ways of their n%eighbors at Seat
tie. This place has more agricultural
backing than any other town on the Sound,
the lumber traffic also contributing largely
to its support. There are extensive oyster
beds in the vicinity, and they are shipped
in quite large quantities to other Sound
towns, Victoria, Oregon, and also to San
Francisco. During the last IL months the
| figures show that $50, 900 worth Of these
bivalves have been shipped from this place.
A narrow-guage railroad, Is miles in
length, connects Olympia with the North
ern Pacific.
Frank Pixley, in a recent number Of the
Argonaut, makes the following a~llusion to
this section, which any intelligent person
at all conversant with the facts will say is
not oyerdrawn: STRETCHING northward
of this iron-line Of latitude 1.-THE Central
Pacific lies a great. unproductive, I'M
known land-a land, stretching from the
Pacific Ocean to the Missouri River,
~abounding in all that constitutes a
nations wealth, possessing in itself
every element of natural prosperity. The
country bordering on Puget Sound, which
is the most magnificent harbor on the con
tinent, and the mouth of the Columbia
River is an unbroken forest of splendid
timber. There, in time, ships will be built
and launched to bear away to foreign
ports the growing of that I'M
known and almost ~unexplored land.
There, too, are vast coal and iron fields
twin Titans-in possession of forces which,
developed by wealth and labor, are capa-
BILE of infinite results. Iron and coal in
vicinage nave contributed to the greatness
and strength of England have enriched
Pennsylvania are euriching Virginia and
West Virginia, and opening up new posi-
bilities to all the lands upon and border
ing upon the Cumberland and Allegheny
ranges"
The Oregon State election occurs in
June. The Democratic State Convention,
which met in Portland, yesterday con-
cluded their labors, and the ticket now
stands at the head OF the editorial columns
Of the Democratic papers. Opposition pa
pers acknowledge that it ia a strong ticket
-one that will run well. The action of
the President in vetoing the Chinese bill
las greatly discouraged Republicans, who
now entertain fears OF defeat in June.
The Republican State Convention meets
here a few days hence.
Rev. J. A. Gray, we'll known in Eureka,
is one Of Portland's popular preachers.
being pastor Of the First Baptist Churt h.
M.