New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-01
THE NEW STATES.
XyyIv.
SOME ASPECTS OF OLYMPIA
. CITY OF vERDURE AND PRETTY i0''i''
WESTERN TOWNS AND THEIR AMBITION ~ DE
SEATS OF oovrEsMnSr-OIHAriAS
GROWTH AND PROSPECTS
PUGET SOUND.

vr,,osRE sPoSpENr OF ThN nA'''
,",,-,a,t, 1889; By me New io'N 49,.
copST'S"" olvmpia. w T., August z.
;o,es and disturbs an Eastern
80" .sa,.o,,i,c through the West's inc "ose"oe VI
s..Ia,,o,s trees Only upon 'he houhU'iu'' ~
-, nd along the river courses uo's h0 ''i'
-, ,imbers of any kind, ana the>c arc con-
e. 20 a few cottonwoods anu SCRUB WILLOWS
-. ,bs water flows, and upon the mountains
y. rnar,ed and knotty pines. rev reanze now
70 ~ arc Of the natural charms that beautify
80 homes until they visit distant places where
IN charms are denied them. Then they are
astonished 70 discover away down in their hearts
: yarietr of sweet and tender sentiments, of the
existence of which they had scarcely suspicion.
Then they begin TO realize what Paine meant when
he sang of his lowly matched cottage and OF the
birds singing sweetly that came At his call They
50. tots of lowly matched cottages, but the
veoetatjon around them is strange. 1t lacks the
bright green that so greatly beauties and adorns
their own lowly matched cottages. They see
beautiful birds, whose songs are fascinating, but
they lack the tones and the melodies Of the birds
that came at their CALL
IL was with sense of relief, profound as 10
be incapable of description, that / first saw the
town Of Olympia the pretty little capital OF wash
ington Territory. In wanderings that had eN-
tended over many thousands of miles | had us
tied q hundred wonderful places that human IN
tcrprise had reared where nature apparently had
no intention or desire that town should exist
] had been tremendously impressed with inc
creative power of the human intellect ana inc
human hand / had cities builded almost
under my very eyes; had seen great rocks jug
from the mountains and transformed INTO o"II"-
ngstones and placed one or top OF the oIhcr
until it seemed as if magcian'S hand had re"Ico
Il magnificent building between night ana morn
ing. l had gone over great railroad sySiem'
running almost in a straight Inc over fNer'
around lake, across plain, and through mountains
a railroad system powerful and impressive as the
mysterious and magnificent land through wmch
H. ran / had seen its trains discharge all those
comforts and conveniencaS that make existence
pleasant in the East. I had seen these grateful
luxuries deposited in newly built homes, which
were rendered as delightful as any to be found
elsewhere. l had Toasted my eyes on 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 hOneysucble growing, the apple
trees in blossom, birch trees sweeping the sky,
oaks spreading their delightful shade over lawn
and field When at last l came upon this de-
Ightful little village, with its verdure-dressed
trees quaint homes with their whitewashed fronts
and their green shutters, / saw something that
had long been missed.
Olympia is type of the older cities of Wash
ngton. II has graveyard, and while graveyards
may not seem to be the most desirable feature of
community, and while it may not be reclioned
worth while 10 undergo any considerable sacrifice
in order TO acquire a graveyard, yet there was
oil inDo bouf bome of no
Ia lend age and respectabilty TO the town, ana
that seemed TO entitle 10 TO that reverence which
no other place | had visited had inspired. Its
little churches wore the Stains of age and were
overgrOwn with ivy vines, and their bells had a
mellow sound and lacked the CLANCY newneSs that
characerzes the tones Of the bells in other cities
Olympia has grown during the last twenty
years, but it has grown slowly, and to-day con
tains scarcely more than 5000 people. The
scenery around it is beautiful The arm of that
exquisite water. blue and green with the oceans
brine, and yet clear and pellucid as a mountain
stream comes inward from the Sound as if on
purpose 10 wash the shores around which Olympia
clusters. You can look far down into the depths
Of this CLASSY water and see the StariSh cjngng
10 the rocks and moving their red-molted arms
slowly here and slowly there as they creep up and
down and into the Sounds soft bed. You can see
mallards tame and fearless, riding on the water
almost within reach Of the fishermen they sit
in their boats. You can see the lofty tops of the
Olympic Mountains, the light clouds circling
round them, Rugged about with snowy shawls.
ranging Tar 10 the north and far to the south be-
tween the Soundland and the coast Back from
the town yOu sec the waterfall tumbling over
rocky steps, and still further back, the mighty pine
thclnts with their timbers rising two hundred
feet in straight line slIywards.
Olympia is a city of homes. It's people do not
claim 10 be great commercial community 1t
is the capital and hut little else. | have been
much surprised TO find how slightly the Western
people are impressed with the lesson invariably to
he drawn from the history Of capital cities. In
the four new States every town with thousand
Inhabitants wants to be the capital, and offers to
mortgage itself up TO its ears in order to secure
that honor None of them seems 10 understand
how the possession of capitol is really curse to
the eommunity how it almost invariably stiles
commercial activity; how it produces atnos-
pheTc surcharged with all the moral poisons dis
seminsted by certain varieties Of politics that
always cluster around capitols. 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 St Louis. They forget that in
no instance in which the capital city Of the State
is also its leading commercial city is that effect in
the slightest degree due TO its possession of a
capitol
oympia, like all other capitals possesses a !
charming official society and all those aristocratic
clements which belong to official life AS a com |
munty II eXerts powerful influence upon the
Territory an influence of which it is exceedingly
jealous. II is partaking in considerable dogroe
OF the remarkable prosperity which Wasbinotop
both east and west of tia Cascades is now eniov'
ing. This prosperity is well illustrated bv ti,o
increase Of the taxable property during The last
two years. The aggregate valuation in 1852
reached 49,, 900, 900, more than So. oO0 ooo IN