Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1883-07-19
FEATURES IN A FAR.0FF LAND.
one Of the Aspiring Rivals 10 Prom
incnce on Puget sound.

incnce on Puget sound.
New Tacoma. in the northwestern
corner of Washington Territory on
Puget Sound. is about ten years old.
1t was n tender infant, in its swaddhng
clothes, in 1873 and 1874, and received
such shock by the great financial
crash and the failure of J Cook * Co
that ii remained in a state of bow
legged hclpleSSuesS till about three
years ago, when the prospects for the
speedy completion of the Northern
Pacific railroad poured ointment ON
its helpless frame, which had already
been much abused by that big school
boy bully of the sound, Seattle, 1t
soon learned To work alone, and is
now "A typical thriving western town
of about four thousand inhabitants,
with fair prospect of increasing ITS
population 20 ten thousand Sn few
years. The town is called New Tacoma,
To distinguish il from Tacoma, known
as the old town, which is an old
saw-mill village of six or eight hun
/ dred inhabitants, about mile and a
half northwest
New Tacoma, is situated on high
bluff at the head of navigation ON
! Commencement bay, the most south
easterlv branch of Admiralty inlet
+ Ii is connected by rail with kalma,
ON Columbia river, and will in n few
months be connected with both Seattle
and Portland 4 branch road runs
from here out about twelve miles 20
the extensive coal mines ia the vicinity
of Corbonarlo, and extensive coal
bunkcrS are built ON piles IN the bay
here. where all kinds of ocean vessels
take on coal All this part, and IN
fact all the territory in western and
northwestern Washington, Is covered
with a dense growth of magnificent
pine. fir aud cedar timber The trees
. are very tall and symmetrical, making
the finest spar timber for ship build
/ ing in the world. There is nothing
I here 20 compare with the monster red
wood trees twenty feet in diameter
, that are found in portions of Califor
mia. the trees running from two To sll
feet i'm diameter They stand yer,
! thick ON the ground, and though saw
mills may be heard whistling and bu2
zinp in all directions man cal
, hardly tell where the logs they are Z
work ON come from, SO little they al
| missed. When an eastern man come
, here and rides and walks through tn
dense forcSst he can readily understan
how it is that old lumbermen laugh
the idea Of eXhausting the timber.
There are no farms worthy of tn
name within eight or ten miles of Ne
D Tacoma. except a few on Puyal
up Indian reservation, which is abcu
f half as big as small kentuck
K county. and includes conSlderabl
"A quantity of good agricultural lame
/. and some fertile, well-tlled farm
" Thew is comparatively little Ian
a suitable for cultivation in this part {
II the territory. and what is here Ii,
r. along the bank Of the little rivers thu
II rum down from the Cascade and Con
d Range mountains Away from ii
e. rivers patches Of few acres of goo
h land for cultivation are found he
A. and there Between here and G,
g. unlbla river there Is some gravel
l. prairie land not iii for anything bl
It pasture and poor for that This Ian
t. is generally owned by old settler
i who came here some years ago, Whe
is a man could homestead go acres ,
h land anywhere in the terrltOrl
e. While their land is generally poo
V they have so much of II that il ailorC
Is pasturage for considerable herds {
O cattle. and. nocks of sheep, and tll
f old rancher himself makes a good l'
G ing of their increase, and has fin
]. time generally, drinks good liquor
g eats and drinks, grumbles about imm
grafton and Chinese cheap labor, an
II can stand flat-footed on bis own dung
. hill and outswear any sailor in tn
= British navy. If he wants 10 loa
S around during the week, he loafs an,
if he wants To work on Sunday 4
make up for lost time, he does so. A
il costs about S15 per acre TO clea
/ land. there is little cleared, and tha
r is owned generally By small farmers
p who own little farms and do most o
! their own work
Most Of the heavily-timbcred land
, which is almost equivalent 10 saying
all of the land is very full of gravel
On the hills the soil looks white anC
poor while in the little swales an(
and valleys it is black and loamy anC
often swampy Wherever there is 9
little opening in the woods a rank
growth Of blue grass an! white clover
springs up spontaneously, which fact
seems TO warrant one in the prediction
that when the timber is finally ex
hausted the land will be utilized fol
dairy purposes and sheep-raising,
though for the latter the dampness OF
the climate viii always be drawback,
L.. L .,,i.,.tIln Int1,.ll-t. In1r.l,nl