Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-11-26

Gus coal feids Of Western Washington
/ covef an area Of I5D square miles. be-
sidss which are vas; fields Of ignite Of
= s1psrior Q1aIify A railroad runs frou,
Sea.sl. 70 Rentony and Newcastle. by
which ID. s1fp1t Of the leading mines
resehes the city for shipnefs. Immenst
coal bankers bsve been constructed 90
/ the water front. where the coal - stored
and from which it Is loaded into the
steam coliisrz envloysd in the trade BE-
tween the CITY and San Francisco. Tbs
great bulk Of all the coal shipped frou
the Sosnd has come from thess mine.
b4sk OF Seattle. and was .hippsd at ths
metropolis. In 1873 the Reutrn Com
pany prod1ced q 59e ssas. and the Ss-
atsle Company. as Newcastle. 1s9.Nl
! tons. % skipa q tai output OF the mine.
triba,arv 10 Seattle 2i3. 4S9 tons. OF th,
gross amount TOO thirds were shipped
10 san Francisco. the remainder goins
I to Ast ria. Portland and ether local
msrset.. Paily 1900 tons found sale
| 10 the home market and At Olympia
Port Tovnsend and Other Sound ports
[ the principal consumers bsin2 the M
u,sr rs steamers plvinR between Seattle
I an vari Ius points along the Socnd.
From 1871, when coal shipments IN
q7autitv first heQap at S.attle. TO the
b-einnins Of 1884, l,2&0, 465 tons have
b-~u scot from tsst port. u which l30,
900 ~ans@ from the Renton mines. and
ITO 90 from taose a. Newcastle This
l. folly txc-;hirds the entire shipment
from the Sound 40 to that date. the oot-
PCS of mines al BsliinRham, Ssssso and
oshrr points sGsre9atina about 10000
toes The coal mining isdustrv Ia this
re2Ios - destined 10 be An suormous
one. Ut.ier tire expanding ind7enoe Of
capt u the minss are being rapidly de-
Velop-d. AMI an this, al In other things,
Seattle leads the saa.
10 tut. connection word ali 'uld b
spokeA % tue comp, ny most interested
IA tue doTslop uent Of the>- tuIn-s A
SD Jrt time ns the PosT-lsTsLIoESCER
remarked: About three wears ago toe
Oregon Ipbrov.toens Company came
into POSSESSION OF TIE mining, railroad
and = er property Belonging " 'ns Sc
attic J. Wslls wala Il ilroad 10 81 pany,
s!uo- tust t,tue the pu+ln.ss ~ a. idIed
by shs nes ~ "A .getn-nt mas Sn6sessed
al ineresss -lmo-t heyond b-l,eT IL IS
net to- mqch to -sy tnSt the Oregon
Improvement Conpthy hss been more
lu.tru mental than ans oth-r aRenc IN
brInxioR about the marvellous growth
and pvoepsritv of S-attle. f',is state
meot will not be Surprising to those Of
cur citIzens Who remember what orr
water front Was three or four wears
ago, and compare It's then condition
with the splendid array of docks. ware.
hooses and coal bunksrs, remembering
that all these ar uotures we're erected by
the Oregon I,uef.v.nsnt Company. or
BY the Colun,bia 4 Puget soand Bail
road, wnicn IL owns and ooutrpis.n The
gross earnings of this osnp snv fer the
ys-f ending November 30. 1873. we're
"a. 0a9 $50, aud the n.s earnings 81
81, S62. the com yany has other prop.
erty IN Oregon and Washington, but its
Sasttle holdings are by far the mos. pro
duotive and valuable.
Que OF the most important factors in
the fatare deveiopmens OF Seattle Is its
railroad interests. The narrow gage
road Of the Colunbia l. Puget Sound
Railroad Company, which was pr~j-cted
TO run from Seattle 10 ths Coiumbis
river and Portland. was Instructed to
the GOAL fieids at RsntoR and NsSoastie
some ton years ago. TnIs IL nov oon-
troiled BY the Oregon YprovenentC Com
p.ny, OF which Mr.. EiIj 20 smith Vas
recently CHOSEN Presld ut. l. at year
construction Was begun upsa . railroad
rum ug south from the city to cou-
n.elion with toe Pacific divIsi IN of the
Northern PaoIiio. aud this line Is nov
rosay 20 DO pat 10 operat on, and will,
1t IL ANNOUNCED, be- operat d by the Ore
I'm -.
reader Seattle tho pracIio u terminus of
that great tfan3csntIneutal road aad all
oonBooIIag lines, being the farthest
point reached by rail on Paget SQUAD.
and the q Arrest and most accessible
haroor 10 ths entrance of THAI great
inland sea Reached by railroad from the
+ ,st. The advantages 1t Possesses IN
this respect will be vastly increased
wnen road Is constructed across the
Cascade Mountains to L sstern Wash
iDRton and eonneot,oH wItn the North
ern PAolio and the whole railroad sys-
tenn OF that region. The Interchange OF
commoditiss--merohsndise, coal, iron
lumber, Dish, etc., for wheat, wool, beef
and the other products of the great In.
land Enpire-wtll Of itself build up q
large city at Seattle while tie CON
struotion Of such Q road will settle def
nitely the position of the city ~ the
great commercial port Of Pagst SOUND
aud metropolis Of W ashinRton Territory
Another railroad project u the Puget
sound shore railroad. TO ran from Ss-
attic down the eastern shore Of the
Sound 10 Bsilinsham Bay. Tnsra I,
will meet tue line Of the Bellinaham
Bay h British Columbia road, apou
| which ooustfaction has already beer
commenced, by whioh IL will DO placed
IN conneotion With the Canadian Pacific
The cotpm ,pding position Seattle will
occupy both Is the leading railroad and
| seaport town will more fully establish
her position ~ tue Qasen City OF the
6sund.
In respect 10 the value of property and
She hnaaeisl condition Of the city. much
that 10 Interesting may be said. Real
estate has steadily advanced in value,
and the transfers have been large
though it can by no means be said tina,
the sale Of real estate is the leading IN
dussry OF she people. They do not in
Wits strangers to locate there simply fol
the pafpose Of selling them town lots
There II, however, an active market fol
real estate. Town property 10 purchased
for business and residence purposes hy
new corners, while large purchases ars
made for investment. The rapid and
substantial growth Of the city has rem.
dered all soon Investments highly pro
ntable, and there 10 ne reason 70 sup
pose that they will not be equally 90 IL
the future. The city is spreading oul
With wonderful rapidity, adding greatly
TO the value Of outlying property. nucl
of which Vas laid of In additions lasi
year, cold and built upon. There were
recorded, during 1883. $50 separate
transfers Of property and 50 addition,
30 the city. The estimated coosidera.
ton was 600. the largest ,ransao
ton duris9 the year Amounting to tSS,
no. The increase In the value of prop
erty Is best indicated by the city assess
| ment roll. In 1881 the total value oil
city property AZ returned by the assessed
was 81. &C. zoo. In 1882 this advasced e
! &3,95S. 10, IN 1888 to $5,6a5, SIS, and il
lss4 70 o. 932.0 This enly includes
property lying within the corporate
iimits, though large proportion of the
sctu ally occupied area OF the city lie.
beyond them. The rate Of tax in lsss
vas bat seven mills, the city reveuus
from sll soafc~s amounting to So,
7ss Al.
One element which adds 10 the value
| Of property 10 the Improvement of thu