Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 October 1888 — FROM PUGET SOUND. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FROM PUGET SOUND.

THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST A REGION OF DIVERSIFIED RESOURCES. The Northwestern Inland Sea Through Which the Productions of All the Continents Begin to Ebb and Flow —Tacoma the Terminus of a Great Continental Railway and of the Ocean Ferry Between Asia, Alaska, and America. [SPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE.] Tacoma, Wash Ter., Sept. 29,1888. Steam and electricity have practically annihilated distance. To-day the Paciile coast is not more distant fr,om the Atlantic than Western Ohio was a generation ago. Tacoma is only as remote from Ne w York as Monday is from Saturday. Tacoma is a city of to-day; it scarcely had a yesterday. In 1880 it had 700 population; to-day it has 17,000. Few American cities have had more substantial growth and prosperity, and fewer can point to a future as full of promise. What is back of Tacoma? the reader may ask. There is much. In a general way, the city’s resources are commensurate with the Pacific Northwest—resources which man did not give, and which man cannot take away. Tacoma has the best and most accessible location on Puget Sound, has a perfect harbor on the finest stretch of inland sea water in the world, giving it unsurpassed shipping facilities to foreign countries. Tacoma has charming scenery; to the north. Commencement Bay, a breadth of sheltered calmness, with ships and steamers at anchor, and waters constantly changing in color; to the west, the Olympic Mountains, with barren snow-capped peaks; while to the east, rising in snowy glacial grandeur, is One of the highest mountains in

the world. Mount Tacoma (sometimes called Rainier), 14,000 feet higher than the city, and fifty miles away, so near and yet so far, a picture of which the eye never tire 3; views ail about which give daily inspiration to thoughtful minds. Tacoma is healthful, there is no malaria,and epidemics have never prevailed on Puget Sound. Tacoma is the terminus and Western headquarters of the Northern Pacific Railway, which has more tributary arade land than all the other transcontinental lines combined, besides having a greater diver-' sity of minerals and timber. Tacoma is tho terminus of the new ocean ferry from China and Japan to America, the mouth of the funnel through which the productions of the oldest and newest civilizations begin to ebb and flow. Hundreds of cars of tea left here during the last month for Eastern cities. Tacoma is hundreds of miles nearer Alaska and Asia than San Francisco. Tacoma is the shipping point for the great fisheries now being established on the Pacific coast, which promise to rival those of the Atlantic border, over which we have had so many wrangles with Canada. A schooner was here the other day loaded with tons of fresh halibut, of which 50,000 was caught in one day. Fresh and cured fish are being regularly shipped to the East. In the Sound are fish, oysters, clams, and many ft>rms of marine life. Tacoma is in the midst of the most magnificent body of fir, spruce, pine and cedar timber in the world. Trees grow to immense size and height; logs 100 feet long are common, and single trees have cut 40,000 feet board measure. Tacoma has one saw mill alone which last year cut more stuff for export than all the mills of the former great lumbering State of Maine. Ships and steamers leave here almost daily with lumber, coal, and wheat for Europe, Asia and Australia, as well as to American ports. Taeoma is the only wheat shipping port of Puget Sound, having tho only direct rail connection with the great grain fields of Eastern Washington, with prairie lands capable of producing 200,000.(300 bushels of cereals per annum, besides countless tons of fruits and vegetables. Taeoma has in immediate command the only coking coal in the Pacific Northwest, out of whioh is growing up an industry of vast importance. Tacoma, too, has at her doors, not mere deposits, but literally mountains, of iron. Taeoma has within easy distance endless quantities of marble, building stone, lime, fire clay, and other valuable natural products. Tacoma is the only city on the Pacific coast free from Chinamen. Tacoma has in its territory fish for the angler, game for the sportsman, opportunities for yachting and sailing, rocks for the geologist, flora for the naturalist, inspiration for the poet, health for the invalid, recreation for all. Taeoma has daily papers, banks, churches, fine public schools, colleges, electric lights, gas works, street railways, motor lines, miles of graded streets and sidewalks: public parks, water works, the finest hotel in the Pacific Northwest, an opera house, substantial business blocks, well-stocked stores, and all of the comforts and conveniences of civilized life. Tacoma has the ear shops of the N. P. Railway and various manufactories already giving employment to thousands of men. and others under way which will employ thousands more, and yet there is room for more industries. Taeoma has scores of resources, any one of which fully developed is sufficient to build a city. Taeoma is aptly termed “The City of Destiny,” one worthy the attention of the capitalist. the manufacturer, the merchant, the mechanic, or the inventor who wants to put money where it will be safe and return a profit. The writer is under obligations to Mr. J. H. Hall, of Taeoma, for much information concerning this section. Mr. Hall has been a resident of the Pacific coast for thirty years, and is one of the oldest real estate and investment agents in this city, which he selected for a home after careful investigation of the whole coast region. He is prepared to show that investments are as safe in Tacoma and Washington Territory as in any part of the country. He invests for nonresidents, in their name, at lowest rates, and will take one-half of not profits after deducting 8 per cent, interest and taxes. He can show where persons who have invested with him in the last six months have realized over 50 per cent. He refers to the banks of Tacoma as to his responsibility. He has a large addition to the city of his own, besides having an extensive sale list of other property, and parties from abroad desiring to invest can do so through him as advantageously as if present, and confidence is solicited. Tacoma’s superb location is destined to make it the distributing point of the Pacific Northwest. Through careful management the various public improvements have been carried on without burdening the city with debt, and, consequently, taxes are light.

MT. TACOMA, 14,444 FEET HIGH.