St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-06-15
Another Chapter of a News
paper Mans Observations
on the Coast.
Spokane Falls With It's Water
Power and Model Elee-
trio Line.
Hop Culture on Puget Sound
LAUNDERING and Other
Industries.
Twin City Men to the Front
on the Pacific COast--Gen-
eral Roundup.

AS sort of postscript to my letter
from Tacoma, published in last Sun
days GLOBE, wish to add few OBJ
servations on the Pacific Northwest
which could not be included in my for
mer article because of my inability to
compress into newspaper space all that
l saw during my trip. The interest our
Twin City people have in that section
has been manifested by the number Of
questions propounded to me since my
return. Among other questions, have
been asked why did not write of SpO-
kane. My answer is that my stop IN
that pretty little city was too short to
enable me to form an intelligent Opin-
ion as to its prospects. They have
great water power there. and am in
clined to think they are banking ON it
considerably.
The Spokane Valley
is very fertile agricultural section, and
there is long stretch of it. But it is
narrow and is not yet populated. Hence,
for the present. the town of Sokane has
to depend on it's own resources, and, as
l have stated, its main source OF de-
pendence is the water power supplied
by the falls in the Spokane river. With
characteristic Western enterprise the
people of Spokane have converted this
power to every conceivable use. Among
other things they use it for generating
electricity. and as result Spokane IS
the most beautifully lighted town on
earth. All the printing presses in Spo-
kane are run by electric power. sup
pose they have the best electric railway
line in the world. At all events, it is the
most ornamental, and makes speed
equal to the fastest railway lines. 1t is
double-tracked, and the space between
the tracks is sodded, which gives the
roadbed very
Pretty Appearance.
The posts which support the wires
are handsomely painted, each alternate
post being surmounted by an arch of
ten incandescent lights, five of the
globes being red and five white. The
other posts have gold balls on the top;
and thus the whole line is given very
charming effect. After seeing the
Spokane electric railway line it Oc-
Cured to me that our friend Mr.. Lowry
might do something for st. Paul and
Minneapolis in the way of ornamental
ton. am sorry to see that Spokane
has not recovered so fully from the fire
as either Seattle or Ellenburg. There
are some handsome buildings, fine
hotel among them, yet there is still
good deal of vacant ground in the burnt
district. l was told that money was
readily loaned in Spokane at a cent and
quarter per month, b1t for the life OF
me l couldn't tell whether this meant
prosperity or adversely. In older set
tied communities scarcity OF money
usually signifies hard times, but in these
new Western towns all the laws of
finance are unsettled by that spirit of
upheaval which pervadeS everything.
Still, in my humble judgment, Spokane
has about
Reached the Limit
until that fine agric ultural region back
of it has been populated. There is no
reason why it should at all retrograde.
for the town surely has staying quail
ties. 1t must grow, but its future
growth must be in proportion to the de-
velopment Of the country above and
below it.
The town of Ellenburg has been beau
tifully rebuilt. 1t is not such preten-
tious place as Spokane or Tacoma or
Seattle, bnt it is nobby little city, in
the heart of a good ranch country, and
is peopled by those who have unlimited
faith in its future.
have been asked what is the princi-
pal agricultural product of the Puget
sound country. Hops. There are
more hop fields along Puget sound than
in any other part of the world. Hops
is not only the staple crop, it is the only
crop. 1t pays better dividends than
grain or fruit culture. At this season
of the year the hop fields present beau
tiful rural scene, with their tall poles
and crop beams, and the vines climbing
all over them. They are enough to
make
Brewers Eyes Water,
ora yeast manufacturers heart beat with
delight. The hop crop is easily culti-
waited, the principal labor being in cut
ting the poles and sticking them in the
ground. The hop vines grow rapidly,
and soon choke out the weeds.
Is the lumber industry profitable
one on the coast? Judging from the
amount of lumber that is being manu-
featured and shipped, one would say it
was. But, If the price realized for
lumber is criterion, can't see how
there can be much money made out of
it. With the best lumber selling in
Tacoma and Seattle at $40 per thousand,
and fair quality at S., l couldn't see
where the profits came from. Labor is
very high, and it is awfully expensive
to handle those big saw stocks. The
San Francisco Lumber company has
such monopoly of the timber along
the coast many of the outside companies
have to haul their logs 100 miles to get
them to the mills on the sound. Still
they are all saving and piling up lum-
Der and shipping it, and if the lumber
men are not making fortunes, they must
be making something, because every
body out there can't be working for
their health.
Are Wages High?
Yes. But the cost of living is CORE
spondingly high. Everything eatable
is shipped In, and house rents are enor-
nous. The piles of old tin cans stacked
about everywhere indicate that the peo-
i,,I,