Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-03-29
DAILY POS1.IN1EluGENcfN.
wu.r Il THE vALIE o. us
CLAIM?

,.antbniece of the Tacoma nd Com
nany on Puget Sound. That Company
ia ring of land and town lot specniat-
o,s. connected with the Northern "a
cific Railroad Company, VIII h7'''
quarters in this Territory at -e''il l.
and in the East 1T fhiiads lpi-ia.' 10
origin and purposes are matters % p''
~; no.oy;aty in -ll ,hi5 se5.IOE .: cJl--
try. -,
I'm the sth Of the present month WE
Posr -IsTELLIGEsCEB, IN an edi''f'"l ~
view of the claim N de by tne N"f'"e'H
Pacific Railroad Comp1ng for iai'u7
cI.;n.d to he ear sd by cou 'trnc-i"iI OF
=. coal road from Tacoma IN "ilke7'A'
said tina, the lands 80 claimed are local
ed in King County; that they aggregate
793 go acres, and ttat they are ho'
woy,b lea. than An average OF $40 per
aors. or A total OF s1,JS'.ODo, being Val
uable coal, tiruber and agricultural
lands. At tue mass ,ns ting OF the GIL
liens of Seattle, ia the preamble aoop'-
cd the value Of thess bands IL placed I'D
round numbers at S7.OU,Oe.
The Tacoma Ledger, IN lts issue OF
Wednesd Az last said. referring to this
estimate and its endorsement, They
the Seattle papers-do not believe tha'
the land claimed IN Hing county IL
worth 100000" which broadly put
means that this paper wiIfdlly puui1sh-
ed. and its city contemporaries wIlthiiy
endorsed, an untrutb. Such a charge
invokes reply. Out Of the Led9eT 3
mouth shall this be done. Befors Us IS
a, article mon the value of the North
eru Pacific Conpany's land grant IN
Western Washington. 1t WAS hrst pnb-
llshed by the Ledger. and after being
copied by An Eastern journal, again re-
produced in Its columns. Inc whole
article appeared in the New Year = edi'
ton OF tue Posi- ISTELLIGESCEE. In
that article the value Of the bitumInous
coal fields is specially set forth. Oh
these 1t says:
1T is therefore seen that these discov-
cries extend from the Sesquaiiy river
on the south to the Skaalt on the
north, distance Of more than lu miles
in length, by from II to 10 miles IN
width. Here then il a coal held having
an area of about 1900 square miles. 1t
contains coal in immense deposits, In
numerous veins, ranging from To ~
feot thick. Untold millions OF tons of 1t
lie above the water levels, ana IL easily
and cheaply mined.
The field thus described by the Ledger
extends from north to south the whole
length of King County, a distance of
from A. to 80 miles. embracing al area
of not less than 600 square miles, or
two-fifths Of the whole Of this vast de-
post. Moreover, the sectioa embraced
in this county is in tine heart OF this dis
triot AZ defined by the Ledqer. The odd
sections. comprising half this area, con
tain l92, 600 acres, which are claimed by
the Northern Pacific. At $50 per acre
the government price, they are worth
&3.S40,OO0. To the Northern Pacific
Railroad Company they are worth SO
much tn II it refuses to sell them AZ any
price.
1t will lie noted that this estim tte Is
for the bituminous coal fields only. and
does not include anthracite, semi btu
ninous and Ignite coal fields known to
exist, nor the value Of the timber on the
lands referred TO. This last, hs will bt
seen by the following, IL valued by the
Ledger at $40 per acre, or upoa its 1872. ;
600 acres OF bltnminous GOAL lands IN
King County, at *a,640, 900, thus aggre-
eating Az the value Of these 200 square
miles of)railread land the triflng sum of
$12,4S0,00O. an amount considerably in
excess of our previous estimate, and If
we ara to believe the Ledger, of un-
doubted accuracy.
The Ledger closes its article with the
following summary, which we repro
duce, to show that not only have we
largely underestimated tho value of
King County nds claimed bv this
company, but to call attention To the
vast value of its claim in Western
Washington a. estimated and published
by its authorized crier:
In the bituminous coal field bounded
as above described are 1900 square miles
of land-that Ia. 1900 of botu odd and
even numbered sections, or 100000
acres. Az the railroad company owns
the odd numbered sections, II has in
this field one-half the above, or 1000
acres. This valued at the low rate of
FD per acre, the government price for
coal lands within railroad limits, would
amount III value to x9.6U0,UOO. We do
not think II extravagant To venture the
statement that the sum last named un-
derrates the value of the company's
coal lands III Western Washington to
tue extent of representing not more
than Ons-fourth Of their real value.
Nevertheless, take the government
prloe for 1t. And still there is a very
important item to add. This belt of
coal lands embraces the most heavily
timbered region of like extent in the
world. Monster fir and cedar trees,
many of them FROM six to nine feet i'll
diameter. aud from 300 To 400 feet
III hight. cover the earth SO thickly in
many parts that. standing i'll their
midst. the range of vision is confined
within few hundred feet ON all sides,
rs by dense wall OF wood. A very low
estimate places the measurement of
such forests at coco feet To the acre,
worth seventy five cents per thousand,
Tor this material ia extra clear and good.
mat Is f@5 per acre. or $2l .6OO. oOO for
the value of the timber on the railroad
company's $4,000 acres of coal lands.
Lot this be added to the 5000, oOC and
we have $Sl 10000 as representing the
value OF coal and timber in aud on the
line of the Northern Pacific Railroad
Companys coal lands in Western Wash
lngton, exclusive Of the ignite belt.
his would seem 20 be one of the most
foroible arguments that could be used
to induce the building Of the Case sds
division.
Note these facts. This estimate il for
strip Of twelve to fifteen miles in
width, reaching one hundred miles in
length. The government price--sao per
acre-is not more than one fourth of
their real value" II does not include