Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-06-21
OUR TRAMP.
He Reaches Sp0kane-Frank Ca
nah', Jack Wolf, and other Old
Timers.

He Reaches Spokane-Frank GA
nah,, Jack Wolf, and other Old
Timers.
SPOKANE FALLS, June II, 1889.
Arriving here at midnight, the first
| sound that meets the ear is the roar of
the falls, which reminded me of Santa
Monica when the surf is high. The
Spokane is about the size Of the Sacra-
mento river below its junction with the
San joaquin, and has a number OF falls,
varying from ten to thirty feet The total
fall in the mile which passes through
town is 165 feet, furnishing, it is calcu-
lated, 95, 900 horse power. The electric
light works are run by it, and
they in turn run numbers of
electric motors of limited power for
small machinery and printing presses.
The Gas Company cannot compete with
the Electric Light Company, and print
ing Offices, hotel bedrooms and private
residences all have their incandescents.
Spokane claims 10000 population, but
| doubt it. The place is dull compared
with what it has been, but it has q
healthy look. The large wholesale houses
appear busy, and all kinds Of goods are
to be found here in enormous quantities.
Two of the dry goods stores carry as fine
stocks as any in the largest cities.
There are many elegant business
blocks of five stories, ornamented with
stone work, the upper stories being of
brick. There are fine stone quarries
close by, and l think more of it would be
used.
Elegant and costly residences are con-
spicuous by their absence. There are
not three houses in the town that cost
over $4,000, and the average about
$4,000.
One thing much needed here is bet
ter water system. A mile from the post
office the residents get no water fire.
quently till after 10 o'clock a. M. There
is no fire apparatus here, and the only
extinguisher is the hydrant and
hose, with very weak head of water.
Should a fire break out any of the windy
afternoons, the whole town will go up in
smoke, for the structures are mostly
frame.
The hotels are full and the streets
have about as many idle men on their
sidewalks as Los Angeles did during her
boom, and the toughest lot of citizens I
have seen. The town is overrun with
gamblers and faro is run openly. 1
opened side-door of hotel and looked
in, as | thought it was hallway. There
was game in full blast, with
a policeman, gorgeous in his blue
and brass buttons, bucking away like
a son-of-a-gun. This is free and easy
country, but am told that in Butte City
and Helena they are more strict. The
Montana sports had State law passed
making it 4 misdemeanor, with heavy
fine or imprisonment, or both, to run a
brace game. They are honest about it,
and are willing to give man one chance
in fifty of winning.
l saw eleven citizens depart for Walla
Walla the other day to remain there a
few years each. They had been making
nocturnal visits to strange houses, bor-
rowing watches, etc., and got
caught at it. They were accompanied
to the train by most villainous.look-
ing crowd, present company excepted.
One of the worst features of Spokane is
the intolerable dust. The streets are
not sprinkled, and every afternoon there
is breeze. suppose this will be REM
edied in time. There are two papers
here, the Revieao and the Chronicle-.he
former morning and the latter evening,
besides half dozen tin-horn weeklies.
The RtuieaC is get up in church, whose
congregation outgrew it. The father of
the chapel calls time from the pulpit, and
all NEE tings of the chapel are held in the
vestry, where all "kicks" are adjusted
and other matters attended to. Where
the baptismal fount formerly was now
stands font of nonpareil full-face. The
organ alcove is partitioned off, and there
in the brains of the present organ grind
out their daily griet. 1t is a six-day
paper, and runs ten compositors. About
twenty tourist printers arrived in town
last week, but most of them have left by
this time.
l have met three Los Angeles men, 60
far. Frank Ganshl, who is practicing
law here, and is now absent attending to
a big mining suit in Idaho. He has
made lots of money, and intends to
make more. Jasper Babcock is here,
looking about the same as he did twenty
years ago. He does nothing but eat and fish.
Ben Dittman, who was with Jack Wolff
a long time and was known as "Pipifax,"
is here. He has a fine farm six miles
out and is building a residence in the
best part of town. He is easily worth
800 900. He owns a saloon which has
been mint to him. If it is any indica-
ton of duller times, he told me his re-
ceipts had fallen off fifty per cent. in the
last two months.
Living at restaurants is little higher
than in Los Angeles-about the same
prices as during the boom there.
1t looks as though Spokane was des-
tined to be great city. The fine
water power which can be used over
and over again, the mines and adjacent
farming country all point that way. L
am told that the winter is embraced in
the first two weeks in January; after
that it is practically over. The DAYS are
hot just now, but away from the rays of
the sun the air is cool enough, and the
nights are about like those of Los Ange-
les. The evenings are very long. 1t is
not dark till 9:30, and a newspaper can
be read outdoors at that hour. The
nights are so short that the hens
have careworn look for want of
sleep, as it is light at 8
o'clock, when scratching time comes.
BY way of a windup to this wandering
letter, will relate a conversation l had
with man on the cars. We had been
talking about the thieves who had robbed
the dead bodies at the Pennsylvania
flood. After expressing his opinion rather
forcibly, he remarked that they were all
foreigners who committed the outrapes.
| said ''No, is that SO; what were thew.
Italiams?" "No," said he, "they were
those id Ghouls." G. At.
Mrs. Rawler-Dces ycu. hnshena aya-