Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-03-07

lt,uU tOuS were SOLO, tpIS Co1t ooS s0AN
at a. high as &17 a ton. In San Fran
cisco the coal trade is prac.ic ally con-
trolled by the improvement Company
At present, who are also dealing IN Penn
sylvania coal az we'll.
The future prospect for the In
provemen, Company lies in four direc-
tons. First, tire development OF their
coal lands and trade with good prices;
secondly. the sale of farm lands: third
iy. the share Of the boat trade between
Portland and San Francisco and south
ern ports. and last, bat not least. IN the
business man cement of al. The dan
ger of com petltion In the coal trade Is
not thoasht great, for tSo reasons. Ine
coal is said to be superior. especially for
steam purposes. to that mined by the
Central Pacific Railroad at their Car
bonado mines in Washington Territory,
and then the expense of opening new
mines is likely to deter ether similar
projects when the competition that
would ensue might render operations
Improbable. The Improvement Com
pany claim t. have found good quail
ty of bitumnous coal in the Green river |
valley, where they have more fields, and |
CONSIDER the early opening OF these |
mines An absolute necessity. l am cred |
IDLY informed that the quality OF tue |
coal they are at present mining IL net
quite up to its former standard. The
| development of these mines Is locked FOR
from the Opsningof "A new railroad which
| WAS begun last summer. understand,
| by the Oregon d TfanscOntinental Com
pany. This line begins on the Seattle
4 Walla Walia line. fifteen miles above
Seattle. The expressed intention IL to
1 . q, b be Inv nj
| pany, aud in time to extend il to meet
the Cascade division Of the Northern
Pacific. Seattle gave it a bonus OF
either $4,000 or $4,000. OF course.
It has been a source of strength to the
coal business that the Improvement
| Company's and the Oregon Railway Il
Navigation Company's interests were So
closely allied, besides profit on the coal
these companies consume themselves.
| and il 10 fair to assume that this Will
CONTINUE concurreutly with the contract
dividing the boat traffic between San
francisco and Portland. But as the
tendency Of all these interests ~ to seq
reRate, II is hard to say what will occur
when the contract terminates. The
effect on the ocean steamboat traffic Ia
also hard to compute. But one thing is
morally certain, that the passenger
trade between the two ports which has
been found 80 profitable will -hrivel up
ON the ompletion of the Oregon i
California Railroad to san Francisco,
promised within tsO years-
"Of the farming lands therS are about
100, 600 acres yet unsold, and which are
pronounced very good lands, worth fully
Is per acre, and in a section of the
country likely to quickly settle up, es-
pecially on account of the PalOuse
branch. now constructed, and to be
owned by the Oregon Railway and Ma
vigatiOn Company. General 1annett,
whose salary while learning experiment
tai farming and wood cutting was sew
eral thousand dollars, is now said to be
engaged selling the farm land on CON-
mission, TO which arrangement prob
ably none of tho stockholders will OBJ
ject.
Respecting the general management
} of affairs there has existed, and still
exists, a local board of directors, which
includes Henry Failing, ex-senator Cor
bett and G. II. Lewis, some of the most
, successful business men in Portland.
And had they exercised real voice in
the control, or been allowed to vote
r against Certain urchases, some losses,
il il thought, might have been avoided.
+ Their directorate has been less real
: than imaginary. The appointment of
! John Muir as manager gives general
/ satisfaction locally. where people who
3 know him best have great confidence in
D his business ability. The coal business
. at San Francisco is, and probably will
, continue to be- in charge of Mr.. How
! ard, who is reputed to have managed it
} ably thus far.
| "The Port Harford Railroad end is
/ in charge of J. NJ. Fillmore, an expert
: enced railroad man and an economic
! operator
! at has recently been reported that
the Walla Walla and Dayton timber
fumes have been leased to a Montana
lumber company, at what price is not
q. ated. 1t il also said that the I'm
provement Company have just sDld
> their farm lands to the Oregon Rail
3 way Il Navigation Company for $500
GOV. A local paper reports that the
3 company is earning at the rate of 81,
| 10000 net per annum at this time,
which is about $4,000 month over
and above the fixed charRes.' A new
passenger steamship is also said to be
. ON its way out from the East, costing
$46J, 900, and x67 900 more to outfit and
$4,000 for insurance. The floating
debt of the company is given in the
last published statement at about ST.
30 0OO. which will be diminished by the
: foregoing sale of lands to the Oregon
Railway Il Navigation Company. The
Sebt was incurred in building the Port
Hartford Railroad extension and the
new passenger steamer and in the pur-
chase of additional coal lands. The
principal mistake made by the com.
! pany was in commencing the payment
. Of dividends on the stock before these
| improvements and additions were com
! pleted and paid for"
. The officers Of the Oregon Improve
ment Company in New York state that
the complete report Of the operations Of
the Improvement Company for the year
ending November &c. 1883, will hardly
be issued before April. A statement OF
J the earnings aud expenses for the last
J year has been furnished Us by them.
: The comparison with 1882 ia az follows:
Year ending Year ending
Nov. 30. 1882. Nov. 30, 1888.
Earnings -. $336l. ST. "a $4.l6l.0 63 70
Expenses. 2.265,6l3 % 2,S19,0lS 81
| Nat aavn,cc, a. IN, ga Ak q, 40 nll Ic