The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-09-18
SOME ASPECTS Of OLYMPIA,
The City Of yerdure and PRETTY
Homes.
Wessern Tewns and Their A mbftien
60 be seats 81 Government
oily mrtA's Growth

60 he seats ef Government
olymptA's Growth.
y Y. Trianne.
OLYMPIA, W. T., Aug. is.-Tha,
which most grieves and distarhs an
Eastern man travelling through the
West is the absence Of deciduous trees.
Only upon the mountains. indeed, and
along the river courses does he find
natural timbers of any kind, and these
are confined ID few cottonwoods and
scrub willows where the water lows,
and upon the mountains 10 gnarled
and knotty pines. Few realize how
fond they are Of the natural charms
that beautify their homes until they
visit distant places where those charms
are denied them. Then they are
astonished to discover away down in
their hearts a variety of sweet aud
tender sentiments. of the existence of
which they had scarcely a suspicion.
They begin to realize what Paine
meant when he sang of his Lowry
matched cottage and OF the birds
singing sweetly that came at his cali.
They see lots of iowlv thatched cot
tages. but the vegetation aroRnd them
Is strange. Ii lacks the bright green
that 50 greatly beauties and adorns
their own owiy matched cottages.
They see beautiful birds, whose songs
are fascinating. but they lack the
tones and the melodies of the birds
hat came at their call.
ltwas with a sense of relief, so pro-
found as to be incapable OF desorip-
ton that l FIRST saw the town of Oiym-
pia, the pretty little capital OF Washing
ton territory. In wanderings that had
extended over many thousands OF
miles had visited hundred wonder
full places that human enterprise had
reared where nature apparently had
no intention or desire that town
should exist. l had been tremendously
impressed with the creative power of
the human intellect and the human
hand. had seen cities builded al
most under my very eyes; had seen
great rocks dug from the mountains
and transformed into building-stones
and placed one on top of the other until
il seemed as il magicisn's hand had
reared magnificent building between
night and morning. / had gone over
great railroad system, running al
most in a straight line over river.
around lake, across plain. and
through mountains; a railroad system
as powerful and impressive n the
| mysterious and magnificent land
through which il ran. | had seen its
| "a a. III f. a
conveniences that make existence
pleasant in the East. had seen
those grateful iuxuries deposited in
| newly-built homes, which were rem
dered as delightful as any TO be found
| the rarest scenic effects that nature in
whatever mood amiable. tender,
gloomy. terrible-had ever been
minded to create. But until | saw
Olympia had never seen the honey
suckle growing, the apple trees in
| blossom, birch trees sweeping the sky
oaks spreading their delightful shade
over lawn and field. When AT last |
with its verdure-dressed trees. quaint
homes with their whitewashed fronts
and their green shutters, | saw some
AuaA b&a ioHk btsCtf hhirTNn.
Olympia is type of the old cities OF
Washington. Ii has graveyard. and
while graveyards may not seem to be
| the most desirable feature OF a com.
munity. and while il may not be reck-
oned worth while to undergo any con-
siderable sacrifice in order to acquire
a graveyard, yet there was something
| about this home of the dead that
| al IN land and PA ~ ~ Is,
| TO the town. and that seemed TO en-
| title IL to that reverence which no
other place had visited had ins pired.
Its little churches wore the stains of
age and were overgrown with ivy
vines. and their bells had mellow
sound and lacked the CLANCY newness
that characterixes the tones of the
bells in other cities.
Olympia has grown during the last
twenty years, but il has grown slowly.
and today contains scarcely more
than 5000 people. The scenery
around il is beautiful. The arm of
that exquisite water, blue and green
| with the oceans brine, and yet rs
clear and pellucid rs a mountain
stream, comes inward from the Sound
as If on purpose tn wash the shores
around which Olympia clusters. You
can look far down into the depths OF
this CLASSY water and see the starfish
clinging 20 the rocks and moving
their red notified arms slowly here and
slowly there as they creep up and
| down into the Sounds soft bed. You
can see mallard's. tame and fearless.
riding on the water almost within
reach OF the fishermen as they sit in
their boats. You can see the lofty
| tops of the Olympic mountains, the
| light clouds circling round them,
Rugged abont with snowy shawls.
ranging far TO the north and far To the
south between the Sound land and the
/ coast. Back from the town you can
see the waterfall tnmbling over rocky
| steps, and still further back the
mighty pine thickets with their tim
! bers rising 800 feet in straight line
| skywards.
Olympia is a city Of homes. Its
people do not claim TO he great COM
| mercial community. Ii il the capital,
AMI but little else. | have been much
surprised TO find how slightly the
western people are impressed with
| the lesson invariably to be drawn
| from the history of capital cities. In
/ the four new states every town with a
/ thousand inhabitants wants 10 be the
1 capital, and offers 10 mortgage itself
/ up To It's ears in order to secure that
/ honor. None of them seems TO un-
| derstand how the possession OF cap
! ital is really a curse To the community T;
/ how it almost invariably stiles
commercial activity; how IL produces
an atmosphere surcharged with all
the moral poisons disseminated by
certain varieties Of politics that always
cluster around capitals. They forget
[ to compare Albany with New York.
+ Harrisburg with Philadelphia. Dover
with Wilmington. Springfield with
/ Chicago, Columbus with Cincinnati,
/ Lincoln with Omaha, Lansing with
/ Detroit, Madison with Milwaukee,
Sacramento with San Francisco, JEFF
ferson City with ~. Louis. They for
/ get that in no instance in which the
capital city OF the state Is also its
/ leading commercial city II that effect
| in the slightest degree due ~ its pos
/ session OF a capital.
Olympia, like all other capitals. pos
sesses charming official society and
all these aristocratic elements which