New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-08-25
THE NEW STATES.
XXXIII.
AT PUGET SOUND.
,,,upsRurS. MINERS AND AeRIoULTURlSTS
BUSY.



CORRESPONDENT OF THE rR'RuNE'l
IfE0AA Seattle, w. T., August 8.
:. somethiug the matter win .ne a'no'-
lne'e here this season. For breathing pui
phe~ "" snlendid dry, cool and msplfihe' ou'
p"''' = % set everything on hre' poh 9ou
IL sesa sf,er the burning of chicago now VI,
"i..s. people used 10 figure up INC "'"oiin"i
90 Of electricity in the atmosphere OIL VI.
20 ~ Illinois, how they useo 10 aiieeo .,nS
plains combustion was almost inevitaoie
hon such an extraordinary ch"rse VI ,;..
wnen - tho ARP There must be a condition
s;uilar TO that in this country AT tle preS.A' 49,
81. on,v have three large, thriving cities been
soV 80 h,, FIRE Int il is estimated that more
.'..hor has been burned from the mountains during
90. two months than has been cut by miners
"a sot,lers since the discovery Of Alder uuich
nd tho settlement of Montana and washington
III. s,r has not been clearly visible on accouho
=, ,bo smoke in the air since the first OF Juy'
"a ON some DAYS, though not single cloud CD
mod the sky. the only appearance prese nted ny
,ho SIM was that of little red, round pail. no"
Inv million feet of timber have been destroSe"
!, is impossible to calculate, but II mas cerU''nN
bcen enough to supply the whole Ohioeu ""''''
with firewood for the entire winter
rhore ore many theories as TO how forest nres
hsr,r and all of them are probably correct ln"O
i n saw the fires are started in variety OF way
Tho Indians are criminally careless. During tli9
soason of the year they spend great deal Oh V,''
IN the woods and il is nothing 10 them "ie'"S-
tho forests burn down or not. When they ol''i,
Damn they leave their fires burning on the srou"'
and GO heedlessly away. White men, IN many III
stances. do the same thing. Sparks from ens,n
Zoo are the frequent agencies by "hiCn
great and ruinous fires are started 'nIc Is
started. and under good brisk wind' tneie 10
no way of stopping them S"sO -
tities of timber grow upon the H"o
tains between the rocks, where their oppo- =:
IN secure a good hold in the carth Is pooi "l'N
sufficient. and after they have at'aihe" 49,
growth they fall. They rarely rot pco"u'e
atmosphere is so dry, and, full OF rosih' ,Ae' ~
there and become as dry as chps-!us. .'o
for which the advancing flames are IooNine IA
,bo;r spectacular phase, forest fires are magnih-
cent 1t almost seems as II they oooN u'" 49,.
aim AZ the monster trees and selected their victims
as the sharpshooter, perched upon an emihehoe'
selects his. They run along the ground ana at
tack the trees from the bottom, soaring upward
They spring from branch to branch, consuming
.,ervtbing in their way, running in as many
directions and with many caprlces as an elec-
,ric current They produce terrific heat whcn
po,binq can withstand, and against which IL woulu
reouire an army of men to conduct succesSlui
battle.
Tn The forests around Puget Sound extraordi-
nary efforts are put FORTH first to prevent ana
then 70 control the flames. system of esponage
is ATTEMPTED whereby it is hoped to ascertain wheh
fires break out and gangs of men are seht lnuo
the burning district They take positions IN irohC
of the fire at considerable distance away, anu
nc rorilly rs possible they clear off the timDer
So, mos they burn it off. They employ every
possible method TO create or clear space IN the
path of the advancing fire, so that wheh ~
reaches the clearing it. will have nothing TO feed
on This is a plan pursued in the forests OF Ger
many and Switzerland: but there men are abund-
ant. and compared with these the forests are
small Here il is impossible to procure sum
Gent number Of men to deal efiectualy WIN Vhe
catastrophe and often before they are arrived ana
prepared to do anything thousands OF the largest
and finest trees in the Sound country are reduceu
10 cbarred and useless masses Memorials have
been sent to Congress frequently III the nope tha'
some Federal action would be taken under the d.
rection of the Secretary of the Interior to pro'ec'
,he timber OF the public lands from destruction. |
but they have not been accompanied by any use
full suggestions 1t has not been shown what
tempt 10 do. The forests are, however, the Ma
TONS They do not belong to these people out
here. and certainly men cannot be expected to
spend their fortunes protecting the property
that belongs TO somebody else That something
should be done is PLAN enough.
The Puget Sound country is old and well known.
Its earliest settlers came to it from California,
making their way northward along the Pacific
tod AZ Of fla
whole Territory west Of the Cascade Mountains
md have long known OF its mineral deposits and
It's wonderful numbering opportunities. Until the
railroads came in however. few people attempted
10 live and do business so many miles from mar
l,et Considerable coastwisc trade in logs, boards
and shingles had been created and several mills
had been started along the Sound. To-day their
name is legion. They are already dong re-
marIable trade with China, Japan and Corea. and
it is in the direction of the setting that the
Jeople Of this country are looking for their future
wealth They eXTect soon to moEOpOlize the Rus
sian japanese Chinese and Indian trade that goes
TO the British and the Dutch. The importations
Of the Asiatic coast amount 70 about $500 900 000
the greater part Of which is absorbed by England.
The tendency CT this trade is already toward our
Pacific States and with proper oceanic connec-
tons we should soon secure practically the whole
OF II. The saving in distance would Of itself be
decisive IN our favor The nature Of Asatic com
mercial demands is also in our interest It in
cludes such staples as canned goods. cheap cotton
-four. meats. lumber agricultural indictments and {
other mechanical devices. These are the things
the Asiatics are buying and these are the things
IN which England cannot compete with us. All
,hat is needed to bring the bulk of this trade to
fuset Sound is sufficiently large feet 70 handle :
H. Inc sentiment IN Washington Territory in
inVor OF protective shipping laws is therefore over
whelmlng All the people ask is that since Enc
land gives such enormous bounties "a bcr trons o
Pacific fleets, the United States shall a, lens mall
conditions even and equal, far as to rcndor !,
liflicult for English ships to secure Amo,io.n
foods as their freight. They ask, in other words