Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1916-08-17
WASHINGTON HAS
DRY WAVE SINCE
LAST JANUARY
SEATTLE, LARGEST CITY IN THE
STATE, HAS NO SALOONS
MAYOR AND POLICE
FIGHT BLIND PIGS
(By H. E. Cole)

(By H. E. Cole)
| Seattle is the largest city in tho
! state of Washington, has popula>
ton approaching $4,000, and is the
great gateway to the Puget Sound
country, British Columbia and Alas
ka. AS haven for vessels the regioa
! is unsurpassed.
Seattle has profited greatly as q
result of the "gold strikes" in tho
north. Men have come down with
millions and invested in the state
metropolis. They have erected fine
business blocks, established banks.
and in many ways brought stability
! to the city. Indirectly the money has
benefited all in the making of better
streets and creation of new enter
prises During the rushes thousands
came to the city, purchased outfits
and hurried to the north. Men were
so excited they did not stop to ask
the price of an article-all they want.
ed was the merchant to hasten to tic
up the goods. The rush of business
forced up rents, and when the finan.
cial panic came the rents and values
went down again. A merchant who
formerly paid $500 month rent, aft
erwards obtained the same space for
half the money. He then decided il
was too high and moved to a cheaper
location, forcing the owner to rent Esr
still less.
A Skyscraper
Trade, lumber and shipping are the
leading industries of Seattle. The
city is sadly in need of manufactur-
ing concerns. All the automobiles,
nearly all the iron work and other
manufactured goods must come froM
the east. OF fish and fruit there is q
great abundance. There are some
fine buildings, the L. c. Smith white
structure standing AZ stories higb.
The building is the highest in amy
city outside of New York Althousah
there is no boom at present, Seattle
is gradually growing and improving.
All Kinds of Land -
Land, some Of it almost in sight of
Seattle, is worth all the way from S.
to $500 an acre. Land from whick
the big trees have :ust been cut can
be bought at a reasonable price, bat
it costs all the way up to $3.50 an acre
to clear the land It requires whole.
box Of powder to remove a. stump and
since some Of the acres yield f1fteea
million feet Of lumber, one can read.
lily understand there are some ugly
stumps to remove. If farmer em-
ploys his spare moments i'm. clear
ing land he can remove the debrfa
at the rate of an acre year, or ~
acres in 40 years. Ferns higher than
a horse and other rapidly growing
plants soon occupy every inch Of
space, making the task a tremendous
one. An effort is being made to ob-
tain state aid to clear the land.
The whole region was once coverea
by glaciers and some of it is very
stony.
The Dry Wave in Washington
The dry wave in Washington went
into effect last January and has beem
in operation little over six months.
IN Seattle 336 saloons went out OF
business, and these were paying o
license fee Of $1,000 each. The liquor
interests put up big argument that
unless the city received this 1886, ,009
each year, the whole shebang would
go to the bow-wows. The people
voted dry, nevertheless, and the
amount to be raised to replace the
license fees was added to the tax
budget. The business men were
against the saloon and for a good
reason. For some time the salooa
keepers had been trying to get the
corners for locations. They offered
high rentals, and this forced up the
rent in entire blocks. This brought
disfavor, and when election day came
the liquor interests lost. | talked
with number of business men, and
all said going dry was the best thing
that ever happened to Seattle. Men
who spent their money in saloons are
now supporting their families better
than before, which is fine thing for
the merchants. Crime has fallen Off
amazingly. The county has farm