The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1910-12-30

One more day, and Tor all practlcal
purposes the activities for 1910 will
cease. From the viewpoint Of one
who has the future welfare Of the com
munity in which he resides in mind,
the assertion is here made that never
since the first move was made to build
a town at the head of Wenatchee val
ley has the outlook for Leavenworth
appeared brighter than right now,
standing on the Threshold of the year
Nineteen Hundred and Eleven.
Recounting the development made
during the good year of 1910, not
so much can be said for the growth
of the town itself, though even in the
town there has been noticeable i'm
provement; but in the country imme-
diately surrounding the town the i'm
provement and development has been
simply marvellous. Hundreds OF acres
have been cleared Of forest trees and
stumps, plowed and set out in fruit
trees. Other hundreds of acres have
been cleared the past fall and will be
put in cultivation next year, while the
work of clearing additional land will go
on all winter. Substantial homes have
been built by many of those who have
cleared land and set out orchards.
Fruit raising will here be the chief
occupation of the country population
in the future, as it has been in the
lower valley of the Wenatchee for a
number Of years, where experience has
shown that it is the most profitable
because the land is best adapted to
that use.
To the town has been added the
past year two substantial brick business
houses and a hundred or more frame
residences. Many of them may be
called more than substantial, costing
from $500 to $4,000. Under the di-
rection Of the town council vast i'm
provement has been made in the
streets, the sidewalks have been ex-
tended into the residence districts until
one can reach almost any part OF town
on sidewalks. At an expense Of almost
$1,000 the strip Of land on Front street
has been cleared OF rock, plowed and
fenced, with the intention of making a
parking strip. Our merchants and busl-
ness houses have enjoyed unexampled
prosperity; this perhaps being due to
the fact that no line is overdone. Right
here let US mention the experience OF
one business man, who came here five
years ago last September and invested
$4,000 in one of our largest and most
substantial mercantile establishments
and who, on account of i'll health,
was quite recently compelled to
close out his interest, receiving
S14,500 for it, having previously
taken $4,000 out Of the business
in profits. Approximately the same
percentage of profits can be shown by
other business men. While not able
to make so good a showing (what
country newspaper camp, The Echo
can claim its full share of the general
prosperity which has come to every
man who has engaged in business
here.
However, it is not so much Of the
past that we intended to write as o
the outlook for the future. Barring
one contingency which, according tc
the present outlook, now seems highly
! improbable, the year 1911 will show
Improvement in the country surround
ing Leavenworth, and in the town it
self, that will dwarf into insignifcanct
any year in its past history. If onll
one-haH of the different enterprise
planned for this immediate vicinity 70
the year 1911 develop into reality tn
business of the town will treble, quad
ruple; yes, may even 90 beyond that