The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-05-11
AFTER MANY YEARS
By {. T. SHORT

tends to the horizon IL y
picture at which one would look
more than once.
The text Is just rs aIluring
Is the picture. :
The writer saw the suprema-
CIV Of san Francisco rs the
metropolis of the Pacific coast
being jeapardized by the new
city that was growing In the
picturesque setting on Puget
Sound-the western terminus
of the Northern Pacific,
greatest Of all the transcon-
tinental railroad lines"
The writer saw commence
ment bay as one Of the worries
greatest harbors, where the
Great Eastern could lie along
side the piers Of the Northern
Pacific railroad company with
several fathoms Of water under
her keel"
That was saying a great deal.
The Great Eastern was the
worlds largest ship. Compare
lively few harbors had the depth
Of water and dockage facilities
to accommodate the great ves-
sci. 1t was the beginning of the
transition which brought the
great Queen Mary and sister
ship, Queen Elizabeth. The Great
Eastern was then the worlds
largest as well as the worlds
most magnificent ship. To say
that the vessel could find dock
age in Tacoma was the greatest
compliment that could be given
the new city.
Besides the advantage OF
the unsurpassed harbor and
the great transcontinental
railroad, the writer pointed
out that tributary to Tacoma
was one of the greatest mine
raj deposits on the continent,
including the best bituminous
coal The quantity was esti-
mated at 236. 100000 tons.
Also Astounding in great guam
titles valuable iron ore.
Fertile lands of the Puyallup
valley, the great valleys of the
Stuck and White rivers, add the
thousands of acres Of wheat and
general agricultural lands just
over the mountains, were other
valuable assets credited to the
city.
Tacoma, It was predicted,
would soon become the port Of
shipment for the great quanti-
ties Of wheat then being brought
down the Columbia river and
shipped to the markets Of the
world via Portland. The en-
trance to Puget Sound, eigh-
teen miles wide, contrasted with
the narrow, bar-infested en-
trance to the Columbia river,
was enough to send the ships
here as soon as the Northern
Pacific was able to deliver the
wheat at Tacoma.
What inspired the pre-
diction was the feat of Alex
ander Baillie, then the young
representative of Balfour e.
Guthrie, in shipping n cargo
of wheat by rail from the Col
umbia river to Tacoma, load
ing 1t on a sailing vessel and
delivering the shipment in
Great Britain at n far lower
cost than the wheat loaded at
Portland.
This enthusiastic booster Of
Tacoma more than a half CEN
fury ago also had an eye for
the aesthetic, and expressed this
thought:
"The site Of Tacoma Is as
beautiful as IL is fortunate.
The scenery about the town,
made up of broad, blue STREET
ches OF sea water, and dark
green expenses Of forest rising
on the western horizon and
reaching 10 the base of gil
gantic Mount Tacoma, mon
arch Of the Cascade range, has
elements Of remarkable gran
deur and beauty such as few
cities possess"
The only reason for repeating
the story is that Tacoma pos
sesses in greater abundance to-
day the things which inspired
the booster story Of fifty-five
years ago. The only trouble is
that we don't get up on the
house tops and tell the world
vociferously and continuously