The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1896-03-26
AT TACOMA.

ton to Mankato
AT TACOMA.
Rev. Beer Writes a Letter Before
Going to Alaska.
To THE EDITOR: This is St. Patrick's
Day and I am sitting in the Bishop
Barker's study and sending you few
more lines before I leave for Alaska.
We expect to sail tomorrow, or on &C.
count of the terrible rush to Alaska,
it may be Thursday.
I had very pleasant time in Seattle
and came to Tacoma yesterday by the
steamer Flyer. She we'll deserves the
name for she makes the trip of thirty
miles in an hour and a half. The
scenery on Pujet Sound from her deck
is as beautiful as anything I ever saw,
and completes quite successfully with
the Thousand Islands in the St..
Lawrence River. At one time we had
Mount Baker and Mount Rainier in
sight as we'll as the snow clad
Olympias. The shore is studded with
magnificent timber and I saw some
logs in the mill pond the diameter of
which was greater than my height,
and they we're as sound and clear as a
bell.
Last Sunday I preached in Holy
Trinity, Seattle, and in the evening I
went to a village called Renton, and af-
ter service I was put up by DIR. Bag
ley. He lives on a farm, right on the
edge of river called the Black River
The doctor told me that the river is full
of trout and at the proper season, great
salmon, a yard long, go swimming and
splashing up the stream. Around his
house he has pear, apple, cherry, plum
and other fruit trees with any amount
of small fruits. It seemed to me he
had perfect paradise of place, and
the climate is simply perfect,according
to my way of thinking. Here it is
only the middle of March and there
are only slight frosts at night, and the
days are so warm that you need nc
overcoat or gloves, the fruit trees are
all budding and the gardens are al
ready gay with Towering shrubs and
crocuses, dsffodils, hyacinths and
snowdrops.
! I dare say people will think it very
odd, but I must confess that l like
this climate better than that of Los
Angeles or Pasadena. There it was
too much of a good thing. Variety
they say, ''is the spice of life," and
find frost and sunshine, mixed with
wind and rain, to be more agreeable
than one dead sameness, even though
that sameness be all one round of
perpetual fine weather.
Business in both Seattle and Ia.
coma is very dull, and was assured
by resident of..Seattle, that if it were
not for the hustle in connection with
Alaska, many of the merchants woule
have to close up. It is astonishing
what boom Alaska is having. Gt
where you will you will see Alask'
signs put up, "Cut rates to Alaska
stores for the Yukon, tents for tn
miners, etc., etc." At Seattle I saw al
outfit for Cooks Inlet. They are sait
to have hundred thousand dollars a
the back of them. They have twent,
horses and machinery and quite |
number of men. and they have char
tered their own vessel. They kee]
secret their: destination and only on
man knows the spot they are going te
It seems to me that man has under
taken great responsibility, when h
has taken upon him to cause this out
lay and lead these men away into tn
wilderness.
$ The "City of Mexico" left Seattle fo
Alaska yesterday. She was overload
. ed, every berth is full and men ar
sleeping all over the saloon floor. Sh
had such heavy deck load that O.
Saturday she took list and som
thought she would turn right over, blu
they loaded lot OF coal into her hui
and that stiffened her good deal.