Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-06
ACROSS THE CONTINENT.

THE newest State on the Pacific Coast Is
Washington. But 1t is rapidly growing oid
in spots Its resources are varied. In the
south, rich wheat and hop fields yield Doun-
tifully. Along the Sound fruits-prunes'
cherries, apples Of the fnest-grow luscious
and in plenty. In and around Seattle and In
the northwest corner large deposits OF IRON,
coal and limestone invite capital In the
Okanagon and Cascade districts gold and sill
ver development is progressing. To some OF
the deposits Eastern capital Is pushing e1-
pensive railroads. Along its swift streams,
in its loamysoiled valleys, way up to the
snow line on its picturesque and high
mountains giant spruce, fir and cedar
forests stand ripe for the AK ana
saw. So its resources are varied and invit-
valley-the natural advantages and topog-
raphy clearly resemble those which have
made Western Pennsylvania what 1t is to-
day The future of the new State should be
rosy. just now the dregs OF q real estate
fever that q short time ago was epidemic
handicap and hamper. But the young State
is convalescing. and its pushing people,
pronting by the lessons of the past, talk less
real estate and take more pleasure in sound
ing the praises of the places where judicious
investment. careful research and patient
toll will some day be rewarded.
THE new State has some promising and
growing centers of population. In the Pol
luse and Walla Walla wheat countries the
natural highways lead to Walla Walla.
Spokane is the metropolis and the gateway
to the said-to-be rich galena, silver and gold
deposits lying south OF the wedge-shaped
granite walls of the magnificent Cascade
range. Over on the Sound are the rival
cities of Seattle and Tacoma. These now
do battle for the coastwise commerce of the
North Pacific. even scorning the longer
standing claims of Portland, now handt
capped by the troublesome sand barrier at
the mouth of its magnificent Columbia.
Tacoma's very soul is mortgaged to the rail-
roads. Some say it will fall a victim to cor
poration consumption. A native even ac-
knowledged that, the signs were serious.
Still it enjoys the commerce and the tourist
business that is thrown into its lap by tho
Northern Pacific and its feeders. and the
crumbs thus scattered are not crusty by any
means.
SEATTLE to nv mind, is the largest lit
tie city in the land. On the ashes of the late
| conflagration metropolitan-like structures
thoroughly modern in architecture and con-
venience have been substantially reared.
| Its hotel accommodations are ample and
| good. its people self-dependent and hope
| full, its situation highly picturesque At the
base OF its populated pine-dotted hills Puget
| Sound sleeps deeply and silently. Up the
steep sides Of its street-marked slopes cable
| and electric roads climb with an agility that
demonstrates the feasibility OF a line up the
| face of our own Mt. Washing ton. UP and
down, down and up, we'll freighted with
| contented-looking folk of all conditions,
| they safely speed along to inland fresh
| water lake trimmed by forest grand,
| spruce-scented, sublime; on higher uplifts
| and through stumpy, uncleared lots for sale
| to newer Ballard, site of infant iron in
| dustry-a suburb that will some day be
| smoky, sooty buster far than now. Beyond
few miles by rail up the Sound is the un-
| painted town of Observation-Disclosures
| and boastful. Here the town sitter is still in
| his glory. Here he will tell you lies the
| pulse of the great new State. Here, he says
| will its to- o-be-developed mines of iron, coal,
| silver and gold send their raw products to
| be spun and coked and smelted and sent
| forth to the peoples of the Pacific, even unto
| China, Japan, India and Australia. know
| that q goodly number of Pittsburgers have
| confidence in Everett's future. Seattle's
success is assured. They are pulling to-
| gether there.
| On up the Sound there's Anacortes, Fair
| haven and lesser communities, all the work
| of the real estate boomer and his little plat
and prospectus Some of them, notably those
| designed in the heart of the forest, seem to
have died aborning. 1 found myself train
| bound in places where naildotted, newish,
| painless frame structures stood with long
| stretches Of stump-land between. Some oc-
cupied corners OF well defined squares, bor-
| dered by boardwalks that seemed to end in
| the timber. Electric light wires with car
| bonless lamps formed a rather striking con-
| trast to the aching voids and tenantless
storerooms. They had contemplated water
| works and rapid transit. They told me these
| improvements had been deferred. But be-
lieve these surveyed forest 'cities" will ere
long be bustling and cheerful. First, how
ever, lot-holders must let go and people must
| be coaxed there by manufactures of some
sort. The pace has nearly but not quite
killed.
IsAw cedar stump in one of these towns
that measured fifteen feet in diameter.
One town official told me that some trees
felled had yielded $50. 900 feet of lumber. The
| average is from 5000 to 13 900 feet.
When you're in Washington call every
| farm a ranch.
"Spuds' is the proper way to designate
potatoes.
saw short-time paper calling for interest
at the rate OF IL, 10 anu "A per CENT
A tramp is a ''scullion" out there.
A squaw man with wet eyes told a native
| who was with me how he had been affiicted
| in the loss of his housekeeper, and the black
| eyed, red-cheeked, raven-haired little group
Of half-breeds that heard his lamentation
looked sorrowful My companion brought a
smile to his sad face by telling him to buy
another Siuash helpmeet
They are making splendid coke at Fair
| haven.
Much of the coal in Washington is lignous,
and many deposits were crushed in the up
| heaval.
In one spot in the skagit Valley I saw a
| vast vein or splendid iron ore outcropping
about 700 feet away from several large veins
OF good coal.
There's mountain of marble and a vast
ridge of limestone nearby.
The people OF Seattle can go to church on
Sunday morning, see a baseball game in the
afternoon, listen to q military band before
supper and enjoy the theater or dance prior
| to retiring. And they don't seem to be much
the worse of for these diversions either.
| GEO. A. MADDEN.
DEATHS HERE AND ELSEWHERE