, 1883-12-29


rich mining camp, there ever exist
ed a city on the Pacific slope that
could honestly boast Of such an ex-
traordInary development as has man
ifested itself in Spokane Falls dur
ing the past summer. Where the
"bOOm" for a town has been founded
upon imaginary advantages, or the
mOmentary delusiOn arising from the
greed for gold, the spirit of life in
| fused in the place dies out as sud-
denly as it came to life, and such
places in a short time sink into de-
serted villages, and the blocks Of
buildings erected at a heavy cost lay
idle and tenantless, while grass ana
solitude take possession Of II, the
streets. We have seen these ruined
collections of houses in California
and Nevada, where the few shiftless
denizens lolled lazily about the sin
gle habited inn and lived upon the
recOllo ct.ons Of theirformer greatness.
There are towns that once bOasted
Of a population numbered among the
thousands, where real estate was held
at hundreds of dollars per front foot,
and where the setting Of their then
brilliant sun was a disaster never
dreamed OF. But Spokane Falls was
not built upon such transitOry fOun-
datiOn. Its resources are not pros
pective, but always present. 1t does
not depend upon nourishment and
support from prOblematicaluncertain-
ties, but from resources never failing
and ineXhaustible. II Is not the
vagaries Of doubtful mining pro-
jects that infuse life into the place,
it is not visionary chances of secur-
ing certain beneficiary aid through
the location Of public or private pro-
jects, institutions or corporate I'M
provements. 1t is neither fOstered
by sCnemIng capitalists, or "bOom-
ed" for the benefit of rich syndicates.
Spokane Falls owes its growth to its
beauty of location, its salubrity Of
climate, its health giving atmOs-
pherc. Its stability and prospects for
further development rests upon its
geographical position rs the great
distributing point Of the northwest,
and has tributary to it the finest ag-
ricultural section in the world. This
great body Of land is being rapidly Ia
ken up and settled upon. In few
years hence waiving fields Of grain
will greet the traveller ON every hand,
and that king Of cereals, the life-sus-
tanning wheat, the quality Of which
is celebrated the world over, will he
grown from the Idaho line to the
Cascades and from Oregon to British
columbia. Not only does the place
rest itself upon the harvest Of the
husbandman, resource more certain
and permanent than the production
Of gold, but right in the center of the
city we have n water power unparcll-
eled in extent, pOwerand capacity. A
power unlimited and amazingly easy
Of utilization. EnviOus ncighbors
may make light Of this system that
the intelligence Of man turns to good
account, yet at the same time it
cannot be denied that it Is morally
certain to prove a grand factor in
giving permanency to Spokane Falls.
At present this grand assistant to
the future wealth Of the city is run
ming to waste, but the time will come
when the laughing waters will furn-
ish motion for the complicated ma
chinery Of scores Of stately factories,
the throbbing. Of which will indicate
the pulsation of new life and activi.
ty to this God-favOred locality.
Again, this is not the end Of our re-
sources. Surrounded with inexhausti-
BILE forests Of pine, fir, cedar and
other easily worked woods, the lum-
bering trade is to be for many years
to come, one Of the active indus
tries Of the place. The streams furn-
ish ample means for bringing this
crude material to our doors, where
the mills are located to handle the
logs and reduce them to the shapes
necessary Tor use. And yet another
resource has recently been opened up
that will add still further to the i'm
pOrtance Of Spokane Falls. We re-
fer to the recently discovered and
fabulOusly rich mining region of the
Cgur ID Alenes. This excitement Is
bound to be Of inealculable benefit to
our city. Situated as the city is so
near the field Of operation, and on
the best road into the mines, this is
bound to be the point from which
the greater portion Of the sup
plies are to be drawn. Thousands
Of miners will stop and fit out
from this place next summer,
and when the trade IS once estab-
lished it can be always held. The
miner and prospector will not be
long discovering that it is to their nd
vantage to do theirbuying here, and
the merchant will have no one to
blame but himself II the trade is ever
turned into another channel. In
enumerating these various resour-
ces we do so through no flippant
bOastfulness, but for the purpose Of
showing that the spirit that has ami
mated people this season has grown
out Of belief in the permanency Of
Spokane Falls builded upon tangible
and realistic certainties with
which the locality Is surrounded. It
is rehearsed for the purpose Of point
ing out few Of the reasons why the