The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-10-11
THE NEWEST EMPIRE.
An Eminent Clergyman on Sc
attic and Washington.
FERTILE SOIL. THRIVING TOWNS.
4 Lard Of Purs Dslight-what Wondsr
thst Eastern Young Men Flock
70 Puget sounds

Rev. = X. Young In Philadelphia Methodist.
ACROSS the continent" once meant q
trip to San francisco. and few weeks
along the coast and among the mountains
and valleys Of California. Now the tides
Of travel flow northward. and Puget sound,
Belitngham bay and Alaska are the at.
tractive points. The old paths are By no
means abandoned, and the Golden State,
with it, genial climate and cloudless skies.
embroidered with flowers and empowered
In fruit trees. has lost none Of its charms.
But no tourist in quest OF pleasure or trav.
eier seeking q new home finishes his jour.
ney there; The railroads pushing up from
the South and descending from the North
have opened up new Wonderland,
and revealed an empire offering t.
capital and industry almost boundless pos
sibilities, and few hours' ride in luxu-
rious palace car carries the traveller into
region that scarcely decade ago was terra
iscog,sisa to all but Z few adventurous set
tiers who had penetrated its dense forests
and built themselves homes, or were clus.
tering in struggling villages Now it Is q
state holding within its boundary lines
nearly half . million people and fringine
its coast with Aourishing cities. The as
tonishing stories Of rapid growth that were
once literally discounted are more than
verified by what il seen on every hand,
and what seemed exaggerations are found
to be but plain. unvarnished facts.
Here is Seattle, with 5000 inhabitants,
its business streets lined with immense
blocks built of brick and stone, six and
eight stories high, r1valing in architectural
finish and imposing appearance those Of
any city on the continent. Illumined by
electric light and traversed by street cars
that climb its steepest hills and course
along its principal thoroughfares, its hill
whose verdant lawns and abundant shrub
berry enhance their beauty, and lying on q
harbor whose waters can easily float the
largest vessels, and whose shores form q
natural wharfage, where ships of
the deepest drought may discharge
their cargoes-it is hard to believe that
ten years ago it was an obscure village,
giving little promise of its present great
ness. The wonder grows when it is re-
membered that little more than year
ago the entire business portion of the city
was destroyed by fire. and all these mag
nificent buildings are the product of q
twelvemonth. And Seattle is but one of q
number OF cities showing the same phe-
nomenal growth and in sharp competition
for supremacy. Which is to be the chief
emporium Of this new domain is still an
open question, but that all are destined to
become important, fourishing commercial
centers is beyond doubt.
But on what foundation does this strong
confidence rest2 There is . growing dis
trust Of doomed cities, and the people
are demanding something more substantial
than the gorgeous pictures of interested
spectators. What lies behind these
prophesies Of greatness? A harbor of 200
miles long, with shore line of 1,6O0 miles,
free from shoals and rocks. and deep
enough and broad enough to float the COM
merce of both oceans Into this harbor
the commercial tides are already flowing,
and ocean vessels from foreign ports are
their cargoes at the wharves of
these new cities. Down this coast line, by
rail and steamer. must come the products
of those far northern regions whose
immense resources are just coming to the
surface, and here the Alaskan trade,
which is assn ming vast proportions, must
find it's highway. Around these great CEN
tiers of population is an immense territory
just beginning to disclose its unbounded
resources of agricultural and mineral
producers. The soil of Washington is ca
pabIe Of producing almost every variety of
vegetation. Its grain fields rival those of
Minnesota and Dakota, and the yield of its
fruit farms IL as prolific IS the best regions
of California. Its mountains are stocked
with precious metals. water is abundant,
easily utilized for manufacturing purposes.
and wherever needed for irrigation. But
the most surprising fact is the mildness of
the climates fact utterly at variance with
the popular conception.
One naturally assumes that in this
L. -
on the borders of the Arctic regions, the
winters must be excessively cold and the
climate rigorous beyond that of the East
ern and Middle states. On the contrary
the mercury never falls to Zero and on the
western slope of the Cascades snow is
rarely seen. The summers are never I'M
comfortably warm-the days clear and
bright. and the nights always cool. The
heavy rainfall, that comes in the winter
as many suppose. but it has its
interludes of pleasant days, when the sun
shines brightly and the atmosphere is dry
and salubrious. The winters of Tennessee
have their counterpart here, and the COM
Portable summer weather of Eastern
mountain and seaside resorts is the pre-
vailing condition. of this entire region.
Such state, with its marvellous advan-
tages of soil and climate and its wonderful
coast line could not fail to attract the at
tention of capitalists and draw to its unde-
veloped fields others who are Fastening
this way.
The Pacific steamship lines are sending
their largest vessels into its harbors. find
ing them the nearest ports of entry and
the easiest of access on the coast. Along
these land and ocean highways the tides of
travel flow with a rapidity and ease that
soon bring the population and fill up these
inviting fields. 1t is among the certainties
of the future that the young men whom
our colleges are preparing for professional
and mercantile life, and the sturdy youth
who are receiving different but scarcely
less important training on the farms and
in the shops of the East, will contribute
literally from their ranks to this fast grow
ing population. The larger opportunities
that this rich region opens to the husband
man, the merchant, the manufacturer and
the capitalist are certain to attract the
brain and muscle and money of the over
crowded Eastern cities, and draw hither
the energy and industry that are too
ambitious and enterprising to remain oH
the exhausted soil OF the old farms. Out
of such material is this new empire rising
in the far Northwest to be formed. and it
needs no prophets ken to foreten its
greatness