Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-03-18

One Of the Prosperous. Promising
Towns ef the 4 er P11oYy.

One Of the Prosperous. Promising
Towns Of the Territory.
Spokane Falls - beautiful little city
situated on the line of she Northern Pa
cific railroad, and on either side of toe
Spokane rlyer, clear. swift and pic
turssqae stream. which never overdoxs
its banks and never freezes over. and
which has fall Of lJo feet IN half
mile. making one of the finest water
powers in the { nited State. Her streets
are of gravellv soil. free from mud IN
winter. and scarcely any dust IN sum
nsr, making 1t one of the pleasantesi
places for home on the coast. Her
citizens, more than 300 10 number, are
hospifaole, entsrprIsing, intelligent, aud
possess all the qualifications necessary
for the upb7ildirg Of live city Ia The
Northwest. Portland. distant 3a4 miles
Is the nea,es; wholesale point. thus CIV
ing the wholesale trade of Spokane
large scope of Territory. and Of which
she avails herself. being the supply
point for all the upper country, ana tor
long distance east. west and south
Spokane has two banks, fodr whoirs ale
and retail houses that carry general
stocks, two vatchm aker- and jewelers.,
three gents furnishing stores. four mt
ilnery establisnms nis. three drug stores,
four grocery and provision stores, two
produce aid commission merchants.
four confectionery anu fruit stores,
three furniture and upholstery. tive
boot and shoe stores. tnree me! Grant
taiiors, three Understandings and gon
making establishments. four tlnware
and hardware stores, fonr firms hand
ling agricultural implements. n ma
cbInist and engineer, three harness Al
saddlsry shops, one gun and lock-mitn,
four livery stables. two Touring mills,
one saw mill. one sash. blind and door
factory. one carriage IL .hufactofy, one
photograph gallery, five hotels, five res
taurant,, two bakeries, three barber
shops, two pa.nting and kals )mliilHg
firms, one hide and fur depot, ard twp
newspapers ably edited. The buildings
are mostly wooden. though there are
some very nice brick business blocks.
As vet stone, though abundant. l. not
much used for building except tor
| foundations. Wood. which is plentiful,
is the only kind Of fuel used. There l.
no stone coal nearer than the Columbia
| river Daily stage lines, two III number
| running from here 10 CEur d Alene,
carving passengers and freight. Will
soon be extended into the mines 10
Eagle City. The society of Spokane Is
composed chis fly of people from the
| East and from California. Oregon and
| the Sound. All are excellent people,
and If one were oblivIous to distance he
could, while here easily imagine him
self in An Eastern city. Money seems
to be plenty and loans readily at one
AT d one and half per cent. a mont.
with good real estate security. Real es
| tste is rapidly advancing and selling
right along. Rents are moderate for Il
now country. The climate is all that
could be desired. In summer the
mercury rarely goes higher than 80 deg.
| in the shade. and in winter no lower
! than 30 below, and very rarely reaches
zero. The evenings and nights in sum
mer are delightfully."- cool. Here, one
] has few annoyances. Very little thun-
der and lightning. no wind storms, no
mosquitoes, few flies. scarcely any rain
from May until October and very little
| then: no rain, but a great deal of snow,
IN winter: early spring, with flowers III
| March. We do not have any ''rainy
season" as they do in Oregon Callfor-
| Ma and on the Sound. Winter begins
in the latter part of December and lasts
until after the middle of February. 1t
| is not neo ssary to feed stock longer
than thirtv days in winter, and none
but cows need he housed. This is an
excellent stock country on account of
the abundance of good water and bunch
| grass, which dries and retains its nutri-
ment, making good feed for all winter.
Building has been in progress all win
ter, and builders have every reason to
expect a rich harvest the coming sum
mer. Within the last year the buildings
ard population have doubled. This Is
good place to build houses to rent.
| Throughout the country excellent water
Is usually obtained by digging from 3 to
GO feet, usually about IL feet. A COM
paHy will commence putting In the Hol-
| iy system of water works by April Is .
The city has also given permission tor
gas works to be put in. Two electric
light companies are now negotiating
with the CITY authorities TO light the city.
The agricultural IT sources of the coHn-
try are varied. Almost everything
raised in the States, excepting corn. Is
grown here successfully; the finest fruits
and vegetables. all the small grains. tlu-
Othy. especially on low lands. Fall
wheat Is sure crop. and generally
yields abundantiy. No irrigation Is
necessary. Though the summers are
dry, the soil seems peculiarly snited to
withstand drouth. The surrounding
country consists of timber and prairie
While there il comparatively little good
farming land inme diately around tue
town, We are just in the border of the
Big Bend country, or the Great Plain of
the Columbia. nearly all Of Which is
prairie, and one OF the finest wheat,
vegetable and fruit growing countries
perhaps in the United States. Within
three and one half to nine miles from
Spokane there are large tracts of fine
agricultural land, possessing u soil
peculiar to this country, we'll watered.
and producing an average of from % to
20 bushels per acre of wheat. and from
NJ to 100 bushels of oats. A fair crop of
wheat can be raised on new grouni the
same year that it is broken. Grain is
sown all the way from April LIST to June
LIST. In the IAN, as soon as harvest is
over, grain can be sown until November
LIST. Almost all government land with
IN thirty to forty miles of Spokane. has
been ttkeu, though there may be coca
sional desirable pieces not vet taken.
The timber consists principally of pine.
spruce, some tamarac, fir, cedar and
hemiock. Parties coming here must
not expect to see such country as any
OF the Mississippi prairie States.
We have overlooked our churches. six
in number, and our public school,
graded school of four departments. and
our NJ. f.. College. now in operation, as