Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-08-05
Gov. xKWELLy SPEECH AT WHAT.
Northwest Enterprise. !

A large crevd assembled in front OF
the Washington Hotel last Thursday
evening to listen TO the address of Gov.
Newell. The opening remarks were a
description of Whatcom county. The
Governor said he had travelled extern
siveiy through nearly all of Washington
Territory, bat this was the first time be
had visited Whatcom- He had reserved
the best till the last. Whstcom county,
extending one hundred miles from cas-;
to vest and fifty miles from north to
south, with its superior agricultural re
sources, its fine timber, etc., had spleu-
did future before it.
The speaker next called attention to
the vast and wonderful country lying to
the uorthwest-Alaska, with its great
forests of yellow cedar-the most valua-
BILE timber in the world today, save ma
hozany, and worth ia market, 800 per
1000 feet; its fisheries, which include 700
miles OF goldfish banks, salmon in mex
haustible numbers and whales in inn
mense schools; the Yukon river, the sec
ond largest in the world, navigabls for
hundreds of miles. And the great COM
nerce which in the near future must of
necessity spring mp With this country OF
magnificent resources. will come to the
Sound.
The great water ways of Washington
Territory were touched upon at some
length. There was no country in the
world that had 50 many miles of nsviga-
BILE rivers. Few people realized the
value and magnitude of these great wa
ter ways. The GOAL fields and timber
are thus brought near to shipping points
and coal could be brought to an ocean
steamer within an hour after it came
from the mine. He contrasted this
with the coal fields Of Pennsylvania, II.
linois and Indiana, which were situated
more than thousand miles inland.
As TO the extent of the coal in Wash
inRton Territory, the speaker said be
had been told by competent authority
that all of Western Washington was
simply one vast coal basin. A large
part of this is covered with valuable
timber and the soil of nearly all of it
extremely fertile. The tide-marshes
were also notable feature of this sec
ton, being of vast extent, wonderfully
productive and needed vsrv little pre-
paration to make them ready for agri-
cultural purposes.
Gray's Harbor. said the Governor, is
attracting considerable attention, by
reason Of the fine timber and agricul.
tural country tributary to it. We're it
not sof Puget Sound and the Columbia
river Gray's HarbOr would certainly bs
the most important harbor in the Ter
ritory.
Eastern Washington, in the speakers
opinion, equalled Western Washington
in its resources. He knew of farmers
who had grown rich In five years. Had
travelled over hundreds of miles of the
country east of the mountains, every
acre of which would produce enormous
crops of wheat and other grains.
The metals of this region were
ane quality of the iron ore mentioned.
The speaker hoped that gold would new
or be discovered to any great extent, as
he had never known any lasting pros
perity to attend gold country, and
men who had studied the subject thor
oughly were agreed that it cost five dol
lars for every dollar that was mined.
In conclusion the Governor predicted
Territory. Situated in the great chain
belt Of commerce that Rirdled the earth,
in the same latitude as Londen, Paris,
Boston, New York, Chisage, and the
great cities of Asia, with her fine elm
ate, great undeveloped wealth and mag
nifoent harbOrs, cities would arise on
her coast and in the interior. There
would be a city at the head of the
Sound and one at the foot but the
greatest would be at the entrance to the
Straits.
The Governors remarks were listened
to with the closest attention, and at its
finish he was greeted with loud and
long applause.