Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1891-05-17

terview President Hill and his lieuten-
ants as to what they have decided on
about where the line will run? If the
line has been certainly established,
would they desire TO make a profound
secret of it? Would they endeavor to
hide the matter from anybody?
The fact is, that there is not a pass
in the Cascades, or any possible route
from the Cascades to the Rocky noun
tains, and from the Cascades to the
Sound, in which the engineers of the
Great Northern have not been, and
where they have not driven their
stakes.
That is what they have been out for,
to make a thorough survey of all the
country that may possibly be tributary
to such great line of road as the
Great Northern will be.
President Hill is a stickler for low
grades and he has long since learned,
that the most practicable, feasible and
valuable route for his road is over the
Skagit pass and down the Skagit river,
and, mark this, time will show that
the Great Northern railway will come
by that route. The reasons in detail
have often been given in these col
umns, and to repeat them here now,
would simply be work Of supererrO-
cation. To those who are best in
formed in the premises, the would-be
sensation is a canard on its face.
Still it is to some extent quite an adj
mirable advertising stroke for the
parties interested in selling town lots
at Port Gardner, the near neighbOr of
Mukilteo. The scheme was well
planned and was fairly well sprung,
only it was a little Overdone. OF
course it will have the desired effect
to a certain extent. There are
suckers" enough in this region to
take the bait, and they will be quickly
landed on Port Gardner town lots.
Meanwhile FairhaYen will go right
along as the chief point on the sound
in which the Great Northern railway
company is most deeply interested,
and it is not probable that those who
are informed and who will stop to
think about it will decide that the
Great Northern constructed the
spacious and expensive ocean dock at
this point in order to reach it by the
way of SkykOmish; that it is building
a handsome depot and other improve
ments of that kind to reach them by
Stevens Pass; that the company has
purchased millions of dollars worth Of
property here for the purpose Of max
ing it a feeder to Port Gardner: that
the plans for great coal-bunkeTs to
receive the output of the Fairhaven
mine are being made to fool somebody
with. In short, it is not probable
that Mr.. Hill, who is thoroughly ac-
quainted with all the facilities for a
vast round-the-world commerce, af-
forded by Bellingham bay; with all
the mighty resources of this region in
coal, iron, timber, agricultural pro-
ducts, building stone, fruit, etc; with
the Importance of the twin cities, the
aggregate population OF which is close
on to 10000 people, would abandon all
this for route that would cost mil
lions more, and which would be far
more expensive TO operate, for the
sole purpose of getting to a hole in the
woods on slough, from whence he
must necessarily steer due north or
due south for many miles in order to
get at desirable outlet to the open
sea or to communicate with the Sound
country generally.
Indeed, the proposition is altogether
such a ridiculous one, that we feel
somewhat ashamed Of noticing it at
such length, and yet with something
of feeling Of regret that the Port
Gardner balloon must be thus pune
tured.
However, just put this in your mem
orandum book and wait for the result:
The whole thing, from beginning to
end, is cute attempt to boom town
site, and we hope and trust that the
Mukiiteo-POrt Gardner boomers will
succeed, to the fullest. in catching
every uinny that bites at it, for all he
is worth, and more too.
The register at the Hotel Fairhaven
last night showed among the guests of