Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 164, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 July 1917 — CITY SWIFT of GROWTH [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CITY SWIFT of GROWTH

SIXTY years is but a brief span in the life of most cities, yet these past 60 years in the life of Seattle have seen its development from primeval wilderness to a city' of world-wide importance. The era of development started in 1852, when a group of hardy pioneers, one of whom is StHl living in Seattle, landed on the wide beach at Al-Ki point, Just outside the entrance of the harbor. Here the first rude cabins were built and first homes of the future city established. But soon, in seeking better protection for themselves from the storms of the Pacific, better means of wresting a necessary livelihood from the soil and the waters, the pioneers rounded the wooded promontory of Duwamish, entered the harbor and established their settlement on its eastern shore. As new settlers were attracted by the fertility of the soil, says Earle Gage In Grit, the advantages of the harbor location and the soft, equable climate all the year round, there came a sawmill, which was the institution bf the great lumber business, which today has given the state of Washington, and Seattle in particular, a world reputation. First and last impressions of a city, or of a community settlement of any size, are created by conditions disclosed in the business districts. It is here that the majority of visitors first find themselves; it is here that individual enterprise is inspired and from here that all manner of undertakings, large and small, are directed and controlled. Whatever the geographical extent of a city, its business district is Its heart, the pulsations of which are felt to the utmost suburb and far beyond. Plenty of Skycrapers. Building for business purposes in Seattle has kept stride with every development in architecture and represents every sound theory of modern construction. Even the older business buildings, fully occupied for many years, stand as examples of the best that was known at the time of their construction. The era of the skyscraper found Seattle ready. On all sides are found towering giants of

the street, fine structures of steel, concrete, stone and brick, lifting their faces to the sky, overlooked by the mountain heights of the neighborhood. The L. C. Smith building, 42 stories high, is the highest building in the world outside of New fork city, while surrounding it are examples of the best end most modern in building structures. , In 1900 census reports gave Seattle ft population of 80,000, ■while in July, 1915, the population was reported as 330,000. It must be remembered that t the first railroad did not enter until 1884, and that a fire destroyed $7,000,000 worth of property in 1889, but regardless of these handicaps, the spirit of the people remained undaunted. The sawmill was Seattle’s first industry. The city is virtually built on a lmpber foundation. The wonderful timber resources of the state gave the first means of livelihood to the early settlers, and the development of the lumber and shingle industries has marked the stride of progress in every line. For years Seattle’s annual output of shingles has exceeded that of any other 4 city in the world. Not only Is the city headquarters of the lumber Industry of the Pacific northwest, but the major part of the shingles manufactured In the entire United States are made In this state alqne. The manufacture and export of lumber products from Seattle to all parts of the world form one of Seattle’s leading industrial resources. Largest Lumber Mills. lumber mills In the world are located at Port Blakeley, Just opposite the city on Puget sound. Uncle Sam has locked acres of timber land into his forest reserves in the of Washington. This reserve is being conserved for the ose of future generations, while several million acres are being cut for the present needs of humanity. - Some 8,000,000 acres are today under private ownership. The principal varieties of

wood grown are the Douglas fir, or spruce, the giant of the forest, growing erect to its crown, some 200 feet high, and this variety has insured Washington first place in the lumber industry of the United States for the past decade. The red cedar is of great Importance” commercially, reaching a height of 200 feet and having a diameter liFrare cases of over IS) feet, yielding for the state of Washington twothirds of all the shingles produced in the United States, the majority of which are manufactured in Seattle. Other commercial varieties include hemlock, spruce, larch and white fir, in the western sections, and pine and tamarack in the eastern counties. The commercial fisheries of the north Pacific coast are centered in Seattle. The fishing grounds cover the whole vast expanse of the northern ocean and its every harbor, the traps dot the coast at strategic locations and the canneries, large and small, are placed wherever advantageous for quick handling of the fish. The business is directed from Seattle, where all. supplies are procured and where the product comes for general distribution. At Bremerton, directly across Puget sound from Seattle, is situated the Puget Sound navy yard, the largest and most important establishment of the navy department on the Pacific coast. The federal government has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the building of another and much larger dry dock than-was at first used, and for ten years this yard has been ‘the rendezvous of all naval vessels in Pacific waters. Great Mercantile Port. The innumerable vessels of the world’s merchant marine make this port one of commercial importance.* It was on the water front of Seattle that a series of happenings, beginning at far distant points, finally culminated in the two greatest events of Seattle’s early history, namely, the opening of direct trade with the Orient and the arrival of the first substantial shipment of gold from Alaska and the Klondike. Both events followed upon a long period of national depression during which Seattle suffered in common with

other cities. In the summer of 1890 the first steamship of the newly established Japanese line made port with her cargo of silks, teas, curios and othej; valuable products of the far East. A year later the first ship from Alaska brought absolute proof of the Intrinsic w r orth of Alaska’s amazing riches awaiting the prospector. Of the gold that poured into Seattle during the first year no estimate was made. The first effect was to crowd the city with men of all ages and nationalities, bound for Alaska and the Yukon territory. Seattle was electrified with new energy. Rail meets sail in any seaport city entered by a single line of track, but Seattle has the advantage over any other Pacific coast city in that here more rails meet more sails. King county, of which the city is the county seat, constitutes a port district, and improvements est harbor facilities are under way on which the people of the district have authorized an expenditure of $8,000,000. The United States government is building a ship canal, connecting Lakes Washington and Union with the waters of Puget sound! The Duwamish waterway opens the low-lying lands in the southern part of the city and into the county to transportation - and manufacturing enterprise. With all these undertakings, demanding expenditures aggregating $20,000.000, Seattle will have facilities for traffic handling and industrial development that cannot be afforded by any other Pacific city.

VIEW IN SEATTLE