Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1899-11-10
Eyes Have They, but See Not.

H. y. Wheeler. u member of the
National Editorial Association, which
held H. annual SESSION IN Portland,
last summer, ha, this to say of the
"Grcat American Desert" in the
q liucy, Ill.,, Journal'
|. anyone tells vuu that the great
American desert is Il myth shoot him
dead. Tor You may rest assured that he
doe not know what he is talking about
oil, knowing, wiliully misrepreScntS.
- AS We saw 1t OH tins trip. our west
crn country is Il great desert, inter
spcrscd with walled GASES.
There is Il little fringe oil green on
the Pacific slope, and Il little valley OF
green between the Coast range OF noun
tainS and the Cascade rangc-and, fur
thcr south, between the Coast range and
the Sierra nevada range; and cast of the
Cascades AMI the Sierra Nevada the des-
ert begins in earnest, and is an awful
reality for something like ! 900 or 200
nllcs To- the eastward
1t is indeed a pity that anybody be
longing to profession that is gen
orally able to find the truth from 4
bare suggestion, should have been I'M
able to grasp, from personal visit,
hurried and imperfect though it may
have been, the wonderful resources and
capabilities OF the fertile inland en-
pire embraced in eastern division of
the States OF Washington and Oregon,
and of the larger portion of Idaho.
Probably no better Cor convincing to
Mr.. WheeleD area for comparison can
be taken than the fertile State Of Hi
nois. which thickly populated though
it is, made showing OF 11,57S,OOO
bushels OF wheat, in 1897, according to
the Year Book of the U. S. Department
OF Agriculture, which authority gives
Washington, with her sparse popula-
ton, an aggregate of 2O,l24, 26S BUSH
els, nearly 80 per cent. of which was
grown within that Great American
Desert" or at least upon its western
border, included by Mr.. w. within its
specifically defined bounds-Eastern
Washington. Oregon is accredited, by
the same authority-the Year Book
with 1S,155,O31 bushels, and Idaho
with 2,727 ,672 bushels, large proper
ton OF which was grown without irri-
CATION and all without the use of fer
tilizers so necessary for any yield from
the WORKOUT soils OF the older States.
1t will thus be seen, by indisputable
authority, that our State (the larger
portion Of which lies in Mr.. Wheeler's
"Great American Desert") produced
nearly twice as much of the leading
cereal as the great State of Illinois,
and the fringe of green" embraced in
our contiguous sister about four times
as much as that State.
The Spokane Spokesman-Reuiew,
in commenting upon this remarkable
error of judgment, attributes it to the
fact that the railroad route, over which
Mr.. Wheeler and his associates trav-
eled, lies through the most sterile por-
ton of the northwest; that in seeking
the best grades, engineering enter
prises are drawn unerringly to the
canyons and coulees, and this fact
escaping the observation of the fleet
ing pleasure.seeker, sometimes mis-
leads, if it does not always disqualify
the mind for fair and comprehensive
Judgment. This is q charitable view
to take of such blunders, but it seems
to us that the primary object of a
transcontinental journey to attend an
annual business meeting is lost, if the
trip is made so hurriedly as to pre-
clude observation for that enlighten-
ment which constitutes the main and
essential equipment for proper dis.
charge of the duties OF journalism.
The country expected much of the
intelligent class of educators who her.
aided their trip with so much display
last summer. TO meet the expecta-
ton thus aroused, sufficient time
should have been taken to have quail.
fed themselves to pass a reasonably
accurate opinion upon the people and
the country, their habits and its re.
sources, after returning home and
when the public mind was anxiously
awaiting their report.
That Mr.. Wheeler utterly failed to
grasp conditions is shown from the
excerpt from his paper; that many
others failed to discover the opportu.
mites for capital and industry so law
ishly afforded by resources apparent to
many who bide time" with us, is
apparent from the silence of others,
who were expected to have spoken
from the fullness of that knowledge
which would have brooked no restraint
had it been aroused to proper appre-
citation of the mighty capabilities with
which benefcent Providence has so
richly endowed us.
AN IMMENSE TIMBER DEAL.-The
largest deal in timber ever made in
this, and probably any other county,
was that of Frederick Weyerhauser,
of Chippewa Falls, Wis, with the
Northern Pacific Railway Co., involv-
ing the transfer of million acres of
Yirgin forest in this State Most Of