, 1890-02-27

gcncy in rcntable houses Home
and Eastern eApltal are struggling TO
rcmedy this shortage, and to keep
pace with the demand. In time
rcnts will be lowered. So will the
prices OF provisions. But when
these come everything else that In
marketable will have TO join the
sliding scale.
The REVIEW bcgs leave TO remind
"a Prospective Citizen" that this
very condition Is one Of the motives
that induces persons TO locate In this
city. lfa fourth Of the houses were
tcnantless, II store rents were one
fourth the existing tariff, Spokane
would not be city OF magnificent
Possibilities, and she could not offer
to the newcomer the advantages she
now presents In the way Of the nc
qulrcmcnt of wealth. Our mer-
chants are. willing 10 pay high
rents In this city because they can
reap the benefits of an active trade
and make money. II this were not
SO Spokane could not point TO her
remarkable record of business sue
cess. The laboring man, the me
chanic and the professional man
can afford to pay good price for all
they require, because they obtain
moro for their own services than
their brothers In older communities.
In every city people can be found
who place too high an estimate on
that they offer for sale. Such Is
evidently the case in the instances
cited by this complainant One Of
the employees Of the REVIEW has q
pleasant and comfortably furnished
room, with fire, In the home Of u
prominent citizen, ,one-halfmile from
this Office, for which he pays only
$40 per month. In the suburbs
five and six roomed modern cot
tages, near cable and electric lines,
are renting for so per month.
During the winter season vege-
tables always command fancy prices
in all cities, East or West. Perhaps
"a Prospective Citizen" will be
able to buy potatoes next fall for "a
fourth Of the present price, aud
when the work Of rebuilding the
city Is resumed, In few months he
can probably rent q comfortable
home for considerably less than he
is forced to pay at present.
In new country, rich In mag
nificient possibilities, where money
In plentiful and fortunes are
often made In few months,
the prices OF commodities are always
higher than one finds them In older
communities. The we'll informed
man knows this before he leaves the
East, and when he arrives upon his
new field Of effort Is neither sur
prised nor disappointed. II might
lessen the dlscon,ent OF the opposite
class were they to seek out some Of
the older pioneers, men who came
to the Pacific coast thirty, forty and
even fifty years ago, and learn from
them some Of the prices that ruled
In those brave and stirring days.
Let "a Prospective Citizen" con-
trast his own experience with that
Of those who came west before the
advent Of the railroads or steam
ships, and compare his swift and
comfortable journey Of IA few days
with that of the slow-moving OK
team, when the long and weary
path was fringcd with danger, and
when the cosrsest food commanded
fabulous prices. Yet the reward
then offered was trifiing I'm compari-
son with the prizes now being offered
and paid.
So far MS the water supply is con-
cerned the exceptional healthfulness
of Spokane this winter may be cited
as q sufficient rcfutation. In ten
days there was but one death In the
entire city. In comparison with the
drinking water supplied TO tho peo-
pile of the cities along the Mississippi,
Missouri and Ohio rivers, the supply
of Spokane Falls Is remarkably
pure clear and sparkling. Ii
flows out OF mountain lake,
through "a rapid stream full Of falls
and cascades, and winter and sum
mer is as clear and cold ~ the
water flowing from mountain
streams.
The REVIEW has replied I'm detail
20 the complaints of this prospective
citizen, because they are mainly
imaginary, and are easily swept
away. II ia natural, perhaps, that
some of our Eastern friends, coming
hithcr In the winter season and
upon the heels of n great calamity,
should, at times, be subject to hours
of homesickness and depression.
To such the REVIEW can only say
that n little time and patience will
change the color OF their views, and
In short time they will find them
selves Ms earnest advocates Of this
wonderful young city as the oldest
residents, who know the city in all
its phases, and who stand by the
assertion that 1t has no equal in the
n. II