Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-11-09
1.-THE CITY OF DESTINY"
BY WILL yIssCHEI.


lie the a12th. / write TO you.
Tacoma is indeed city Of great
promise. being The Puget Sound ter
minus of the Northern Pacific rail-
road, and the head Of the navigation
on the grand sheet of water mentioned.
The city is beautifully situated, on
raising ground, at the mouth Of
Puyallup river. and it was laid out by
a famous landscape gardener. The
streets which run north and south are
a succession of terraces. and those run
ming east and west climb the hill by
easy grades All of The streets are
broad, and along those parts of them
which are bu 1t up the structurs are
handsome. spacious and solid. and.
altogether. Tacoma is an exceedingly
well built city. for place eight years
reality, four years OLA lively existence.
1t Is now growing with remarkable
fapiditv, and will doubtless be place
Of loo. 900 inhabitants in very few
years though now its population is
only Is. 900.
THE Tacoma" is the name of the
great hotel of the place. and it is one
Of the city's chef ornaments. Please
observe that l am not and have not
been, and expect not to be guest of
the establishment and i'm writing of it
simply do SO as distant admirer. 1t
is huge build ng. with walls of
pressed brick. and is of IN xture Of
Eliza bethan and Queen Anne arch-
lecture. 1t stands on great bluff
overlooking the mouth of the Puyal.
lup and the head of Commencement
bay. and from its long. wide portocoes
at the rear, and one of the grandest
views of land and water on the conti-
nent is obtained. Puget sound. with
Its many wooded islands. stretches far
awav to the north. and 10 the south
Mount Rainier. snow mantled eternal
IL. looms up like a great pile of flcecy
clouds. "The Tacoma" is the property
IF the Tacoma Land Company. and
was built for the purpose of entertain
ing the myriad purchasers of real es-
tate in this region. AS well as the trav-
cling public generally. 1t has proven
brilliant investment, as it is always
filled with guests, to its utmost ca.
pacity. and has now taken the charac-
ter of both summer ana winter re-
sort. for here is the climate of ''ether.
cal mildness,' without heat in sum-
mer or cold in winter. Think of that,
now, while in the east the dog star
RACES in all his Sirius-ness, aud think
of it about January. ante and past,
when crude Boreas. clustering raier."
is making himself so Immediately forth
with.
Along the Puyallup for many miles
above Tacoma, lies the great hop.
growing region of the Pac fic coast. in
which the fragrant "Siwash," the only
name by VIII CHI the Indians are here
known. are employed. at the proper
season. as gatherers of the brown
bloom from which john Bull and 9th
ers, squeeze their 'ttlf-and-alf. and
from which arises a great profit. as
well as much east All the country
about here which has not been cleared
is covered with mighty forests of the
finest pine timber on earth. / have
seen vast piles of this timber, on count
less acres of land, burned TO get rid of
day | saw among the timber thus being
destroyed a tree four hundred feet
long. without knot or branch. being
cut up and heaped for the torch, in "A
clearing. Such trees and thousands
of others of approximate szc are
being thus burned by the mile every
day.
The Northern Pacific road is build.
ing i'm Tacoma--in fact, has nearly
completed. "a structure for its own
use. as offices. which is another of the
striking ed fees of the place. 1t is
unique in architecture. colossal and
imposing. and that, together with 9th
Ell very expensive work in the way of
grading, is an evidence that the road
takes great stock in this city and will
help it to its ilattering destiny"
Among the work wh'c the road is
doing is that OF removing a great hill.
as high and long. for instance. as five
squares of Chicago. from Randolph
street to Van Buren, between NJ ichgan
and Wabash avenues This is being
done by hydraulics and the dirt is
go ne into a place where low lands
along the bay are being reclaimed
from The tides. FOR the purpose of max
ing room for warehouses. wharves and
road-beds and which. when completed.
will vastly improve. both in appearance
and convenience. the water frontage Of
the city.
Across the Puyallup on land which
is covered by water at high tide, a
wealthy ST. Paul aud Tecoma company
is constructing a mill for the purpose
of making houses. in "knock-down"
condition. which may be taken any
where and set up as you would bed
stead. Ii will also manufacture fnrni-
ture and all sorts Of wood work. The
mill will cover seven acres OF the land
which is being reclaimed from the bay
and will employ five thousand work
men. Such are very few of the
many promising features OF the city
of destiny"
Altogether this is a wonderful coun-
try. It's resources in iron. coal and
timber; its agricultural and CONNER
cial advantages. will give work and
wealth TO unborn thousands.