Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-20
FAT YEAR, BIG PRICES.
Rapidly Increasing Prosperity
of Pacific Northwest.
RECORD CATCH OF SALMON
Never Such a Throng of Tourists
and Homeseekers.
EXTENSION OF RAILWAYS
How the Hills and Valleys Of Seat
tie Are Being Leveled by
Hydraulic Engineering.
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
| Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
SEATTLE, September 16. 1909.
| I do not believe any other portion OF
this glorious old world is more prosperous
! than the Pacific northwest-that section OF
the United States that lies along Puget
Sound and the Columbia river. do not
believe any other part of the world Is
growing so fast In wealth. In population
and in general Improvement as Oregon
and Washington, and 1909 will be rec
ord-breaker in almost every respect. Both
crops and prices are unprecedented.
There is more of everything that grows.
and, contrary to the usual rule Of fat
years, there has been no depreciation In
values because of the increase In vol
ume. More wheat, oats. barley and other
grains have been harvested in the val
leys of Washington and Oregon than
ever before, and seldom were the market
quotations SO high. The wool clip reached
the maximum and is selling for more
the price of last year. Apples and
pears are selling from 81 30 to IS box
| in the eastern markets. and, with the
exception of a few places where the early
| fruit was touched by the frost. the trees
are laden with fruit. The crop of ber-
ries has been larger and has commanded
higher prices than the average for the
last twelve years. The hop nelds are
| yielding an unusual quantity and hops
are selling above 20 cents q pound.
| whereas half that price will pay all rea-
sonable expenses and leave a profit. The
| lumbermen are putting up prices for
| everything that comes from the forests,
notwithstanding the terrible disasters
cd ho d,1fv WI
which shows how easy it is for the pro-
tected industries to be frightened by their
| own shadows. Everybody Is satisfied
| with the new tariffs, both producers and
consumers.
Record Salmon Catch.
| All records have been broken this year
| in the salmon trade and too many fish
were brought in for the packers to handle.
For several weeks only half the traps along
this coast were operated: tons OF fish
| were abandoned in the nets, and tons
| were given away to the farmers and to
any one who would haul them away
| from the canneries. In a single day
2,234 600 sockeye salmon were received at
the Bellingham. Blaine, Anacortes and
Frazier River canneries. The Gamers
worked two shifts for several weeks,
in the day without stopping. and yet they
could not keep up with the fishermen.
There were seventy-f1ve boats bringing
salmon to the Belligham canneries and
| single boat brought In $1,000 fish one day.
The newspapers assert that the earnings
of the fishermen will average $500 for the
season of two and a half months, and the
earning of the seventy-f1ve Baliingham
boats will average $500 The total pack
has not been announced, but Is unpre-
cedented.
DR.. David Starr Jordan. president of
Stanford University, who is the highest
authority on the salmon and other Pa
ciic coast fish. says that probably TO-
this summer to spawn in the rivers where
they were born in 1905, and probably
100000 of them were caught and sent
to the numerous canneries.
Another Big Catch in 1913.
1.-The run Of sockeye or red salmon this
year. he said, lis a very large one, but
it was expected and there is no reason
why anybody Would be surprised because
these fish are developed from the eggs
deposited in the spawning grounds In
1905. In that year the run was even
larger than it has been this summer. The
hatcheries were filled and all the spawn
ing grounds were crowded with breeding
fish.
1.-The red salmon, called the sockeye or
sukegh, which Is the proper way to spell
it. spawns in the gravel beds at the head
VI SoIHe ldhc' Inc young SdiiIoH spcuo
their first year in the lake and then drift
tail foremost, down to the sea, where they
spend the next two years. They do not
spawn until they return to the parent
river at the age of four years. The Sec
ond and third years they remain in the
open sea, where they feed on crabs and
shrimps. All the individuals Of each of
the six species of salmon in the Pacific
ocean die within a week after spawning.
both male and female, and not one lives
to ascend the river or to spawn a second
time.
Another great run may be expected in
unless the catch should be SO excessive
as to leave the spawning grounds without
fish,
Throngs in Seattle.
There was never before such crowd
Of tourists and home seekers in this part
of the country. Every train is crowded
to the utmost and sleeping cars are sold
out q week and sometimes ten days
ahead The rates are very low from all
parts of the country and the farmers of
the central and southern states having
got in their crops. are taking advantage
of the opportunity to see the wonders of
| the west they have read so much about.
The regular passenger trains are running
| in sections and are so crowded that the
| passengers have to stand in line some
| times for an hour to get into the dining
away as closely as possible and private
houses are opening their doors and rent
| ing rooms to accommodate the overflow.
| A great many of these people are In