The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-09-05
THE FUTURE SEATTLE
CHANGES WHICH HAVE CONE
OVER THE STATE.
ON Its sbore~-some of the Re-
source. Which VIII Make wash
tion TO the Great City of the
West

The age Of romance had passed for the
northwestern corner Of the United States
when Arthur A. Denny pitched hts tent
81 the mouth 0f the DuIamlsh riyeg. N
sight u the SPOT on which the city ~
Seattle now stands but ne waz content,
for he had seen ard talked with Old
scau IN his woIf-skln serkin. With al
eagles feather IA his cap and 3 scaIping-
knife ia his belt, and the chef rad told
him Of the days when the shutting bear
and The stealthy wolf and the round
horned elk aud the believing buffalo and
the treachefOus cougar trUd alone the
forests whose lofty oregon pines and
Douglas slrs and spreading iarches shut
out the golden sunbeams from the dark
pools where ferns and MOSES grew. and
ne had himself picked up bones Of the
Tnast0don. which had trBmpied down the
young trees and Enired itself ii sioughs
long before the time when Belshazzar
Toasted at Babylon, and cheops Was laid
10 rest under his pyramid.
Time moves 20 swiftly that it seems an
age since the present state Of Washington
was the dominion Of the Hudsons Bay
company. and its only denlzens wore out
their lives IN trapping furred animals for
the rernorselesS corporation, and met
their deaths stoicaiIy when the factor
sentenced them fer neglect or idleness;
Yet the last trading-post on the Column
Bincoin's election. Seven years before
Oregon had siougbed OF the Territory OF
Washington. He would have been a bold
man who at that day had predicted that
a time would come when the United
States would look 10 that Territory and
ts resources as a promising basis for
hopes OF recovery from an era Of general
commercial depression. The time has
come.
The state Of Washington contains few
er people than the city Of Boston. II was
desert when Ohio was nourlshing and
pop1lous state. II Is SO young that il
has 20 borrow It's public n.-n from other
states. But II has two resources which
can never depreciate. and which must be
for al time source Of wealth for itself
and for the country at large.
The state IS bisected By the Cascade
range. One-third Of Il lies on the west of
the range and two-;hlrds on the east.
West Of the mountains the country Is a
solid belt Of fir. pine cedar spruce and
larch. growing on the site OF another for
est which died long ago. In places the
roots Of the new trees bestrde the pros
trate trunks Of the old ones. II is said
that this forest viii supply the whole
country with lumber when all other
sources are exhausted. Mere figures give
40 idea Of its extent There are single
mills which saw three hundred thousand
feet day, but il Is reckoned that less
than five per cent. Of the trees have been
cut down The Oregon pine which is
also called the Douglas FIR. sometimes
rises two hundred and fifty feet from
the ground and often measures twelve
feet In diameter az the base Before the
Introduction Of steel into ship-building
materials II was used everywhere for
masts and spars The forest ia which Il
grows Is so dense that there is no room
Ter branches except at the top. II and
f's brethren stand like a phalanx II
giants. whose heads pierce the Storm
clouds from Cape Flattery, and whose
feet are plated like rocks In eternal
shade.
The other resource OF Washington IS
coal Many different kinds OF coal are
found there. The kind most actively
mined Il called bitumnous. because II
contains more oxygen and volatile COM
bnstible master than anthracite. The
word Is misn0mer; no coal contains
hiiumen II is perhaps enough TO say
That tie hest coal thus Tar found in
northwest Washington Is not anthracite.
and not ignite. while the Seattle coal
so-cailed. Is true Ignite. II belongs to
the cretaceous period which preceded the
Tertiary age. and was probably formed
IN the period when Mounts Rainier. Ba-
ker. and Adams were flooding eastern
washington with lava. and leaving west
ero washington 20 proceed with its car
honiferous work
Within fifty miles Of the northernmaSt
fcal-fuineS Of WASHINGTON the yelling
ton mines at Nanaimo. on Vancouver
Island. are outputting q bituminous coal
which compares favorahly with the Eng
lsh and Australian Goals The geology
cal conditions btlnw the same. and the
distance very short II has been assumed
that sooner or later the same coal win
be found On Chaliam jefferson and Ma
has rot been tho ease. and. notwithstand-
ing the duty. housaholders IN San Fran
Cisco prefer the Vancouver coal Bu.
vigorous exploration Of The seams on .ha
Skagit. the Snoqualmlc. the Cuwlitz. and
other rivers ara being prosecuted year by
year with high hopes of result Ia the
meantime thu Seattle coal finds a ready
market for steam purposes. about 3 mil
Ten tons are shipped yearly 20 san Fran
cisco. The quantity ln sight Is practg-
cally inexhaustible
Twenty years aEn there was a rush Of
weil-ta-io settlers 10 Washington. Thls
continued upfl the population OF the
state swellef to nearly four hundred
thousand &c was Obvious Thar "a state
with such resources and With eight hun
drcd miles y inland navlvahie waters
must Pes a good place 20 90 business I'm.
fathers rad m hesitation fn sending their
aogs 20 seek thrir fortunes there y, r,r. p
crence e" California The newcomer
were simost uniformly prosperous until
wild speculation broke 0ut gn effv lots
ard iand generally Like an Young
Americans the new shiuctonlsus
wanted 20 make the}s fortunes in twenty
minutes aus lots Ia seattle came 20 ho
worth almost as Uuch as }1ts in New
york reaction wts irtyitah,s. when
gre crisis struck Pns,t Souud oh. ms
what "a shrlukaEo fhere wasf
StHi toe WHshiuxtoaisns have good