The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-01-01

missouri on the south are the oth.~ x.-.
great nelds. The whole Pacinc slons MI, n
guy these products, and the inland sta,a.
VIII be compelled to take them - "a s. 49,.
ward as they meet the transnortat;~.,,
rates from the other extreme noirts Al
manufactured iron had to be brsuyht ~ 49,
Western states from the East and v-ss,
quantities were shipped around Cane Hnr,'
At cost and with dclay which mead ~.
ngures to show that Washington can s,,c>
cessfuily compete with the old sources If
supply. 80 '1i'e' VI
The trade with China and japan is grow.
ing last, as Is also that of England: but
wnen, In four or i've years, the Nicarag,a
canal Is opened and the distance 10 Eurone
Is SO materially shortened the traffic can.
not be fairly estimated. S''A
very few instances will sufface n
demonstrate that the products of the state
nave passed beyond the experimental stage
Inc Union Iron Works of San Francisco
nave built q foundry at Trondale ON
the sound. The Oregon Improvement
company Ia railroad and steamship line,
mines Its own coal few miles from
seattle and exports all it does not use To
San Francisco. The Southern Pacific rail
road OF California gets all its coal from it's
own mines, about forty miles from Seattle
The Northern Pacific railroad took out
from its mine in Pierce county. BORDERING
on Puget sound, $4,000 tons of coal last
year; and in December of 1890. its experts
opened up new mine, whose seam has
been found after nearly years prospect
ing to run, in broken but clearly traceable
connection, for nearly thirty miles. This
VIII give stimulus to railroad building.
The importance of these railroad adj
vances cannot be overestimated. The
government surveys show 10000 acres of
coai land In King county alone, although
two-thirds OF the county are yet unsur-
veyed-and that portion is toward the
region where coal might be most probably
found. OF 946, 24S tons mined in the state
last year, AZ, lao tons were taken from a
few mines in that county. The coal is
both bituminous and Ignite. There are
reported to be indications of anthracite,
but this has not been commercially demon
strated. At no point where penetration
has been made through the forests TO the
mountains has there been failure to find
deposits of magnetic iron ore, with the adj
vantage of vast supply of limestone.
Further back and more northerly are the
silver anu copper veins.
The early settlers prospecting through
the Puget sound country saw signs of coal
and iron at various points. but the immense
supply of lumber afforded ample employ
ment for those whose capital was limited,
and who made good profits without the ex-
pense and risk of more remote enterprises.
The coal beds of Puget sound extend
through King, Pierce and Snohomish
counties, whose combined area is $500
square miles. The thickness Of the coal
beds is estimated for the census bureau by
Mr.. Bailey Willis, one of the best authori-
ties in America, at 1900 feet. He spent
three years in his examination, and it is to
his reports that what has been done is due.
OF the few mines opened, the entire pro-
duct of the Carbonate. about $50 600 tons a
year, goes to the Central Pacific Railroad
Company of California. A narrow
gauge railroad has been built
from Seattle to the Franklin mines, whose
area is roughly estimated at fifty square
miles, but of fifteen seams only two have
been worked. The grades taken out run
from Ignite to bituminous. A new seam
was opened by an English company re-
Gently for the purpose of determining its
commercial value. 1t is found to be an
excellent bituminous coal, very black
and moderately lustrous, breaking into
inch sized rectangles. This discovery de-
termined the formation of the steel works
now in course of erection at cost of
81, &c, 600. Nineteen miles from Seattle
are the Cedar river mines, the Renton and