A Review of the Resources and Industries of the State of Washington, 1909 Part 2

The State of Was.h.i.+ngton was once a paradise for the sportsman in its every corner. Its desert lands were full of jack rabbits and sage hens; over its mountains and foothills roamed herds of elk, mountain goats, deer, and many bear, cougar and wild cats. In its timbered valleys were pheasants and grouse in plenty. Upon its waters and sloughs the wild ducks and geese were in vast flocks, while its waters teemed with salmon in many varieties, and several families of the cod tribe, sole, flounders, perch, mountain trout and other fish.

While these conditions cannot now be said to exist in full, yet at certain seasons, and in some places, the same game, animals, birds and fishes are in abundance, and the sportsman, while he may not have his "fill," may satisfy a reasonable amount of his craving for the excitement of the frontier. The state has deemed it wise to restrict the time and place within which its game can be taken and the amount a single individual shall kill. These regulations suffice partly to preserve the game from extinction and help replenish the state's treasury, and are considered wise and reasonable.

SCENERY.

If Was.h.i.+ngton is mighty in forest possession, provided with fuel for centuries in its coal beds, rich in precious metals, with great open waterways full of fish roads from the ocean and millions of fishes in its inland waters, with game upon its thousand hills and its vast plains loaded with waving grains and red with luscious fruits, still its crowning glory is its matchless scenery.

Towering above the clouds, with its head crowned with eternal snows, its sides forever glistening with icy glaciers till their feet touch the green tops of its foothills, near the center of the state, stands in imposing grandeur the highest mountain of the states--grand, old Mount Rainier.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 11.--Fish Cannery at Port Angeles, Clallam County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 12.--A Forest Scene in Clallam County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 13.--North Bank Bridge Over the Columbia River at Vancouver, Clarke County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 14.--U. S. Army Post, Vancouver, Clarke County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 15.--Stock-Raising in Clarke County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 16.--A Clarke County Fruit Ranch.]

Through its center north and south the Cascade mountains in a zigzag course lift their cl.u.s.tered peaks and mountain pa.s.ses from four to eight thousand feet above the sea, while Mount Olympus and his colleagues higher still poke their inspiring [Page 17]

front heavenward. Between these two white and green clad mountain ranges, protected from the blizzards of the southwestern plains and from the hurricanes from the ocean, lie in safety the placid waters of Was.h.i.+ngton's great inland sea, matchless Puget Sound.

Where else upon the globe is such a diversified stretch of tranquil water, upon whose sh.o.r.es the ocean tides ebb and flow, upon whose surface the navies of the world could maneuver to their heart's content, while visible from sh.o.r.e to sh.o.r.e are the vast evergreen forests, interlaced with winding waters and stretching gently upwards till they reach the visible mountain peaks a hundred miles away, thousands of feet skyward?

Scarcely less enchanting is the view eastward from the Rainier's lofty height--a vast stretch of hill and plain almost surrounded by green mountain sides, through whose gray and green fields flow the great winding courses of the mighty Columbia and the lazy Snake rivers, while a mult.i.tude of smaller streams gleam through the forest sides of the mountains over innumerable waterfalls. Here within the foothills you gaze upon the largest lake within the state, a beauty spot to enchant alike the artist and the sportsman.

Deep within its rocky sides and full of speckled beauties lying like a mirror in the stretch of green hills about it, lies Lake Chelan, and on its unruffled bosom a fleet of boats ply for fifty miles beyond its outlet till reach the mining foothills of the mountains. A hundred miles eastward, still among the scattered pines of northeastern Was.h.i.+ngton, the Spokane river tumbles in ma.s.ses of foam and spray over a succession of rocky falls on its way to the Columbia, while still further on the Pend d'Oreille and upper reaches of the Columbia river flow close up among the mountains and foothills and present a series of beautiful combinations of rock, trees, hills and valleys, of forests and waterfalls of magnificent beauty. Was.h.i.+ngton in its scenery is magnificent in proportions, wonderful in its variety, grand and imposing in form and feature--picturesque--enticing--"a thing of beauty and a joy forever."

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PRINc.i.p.aL INDUSTRIES OF WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

LUMBERING.

The description of the resources of a state naturally suggests what its industries are. The forests of western Was.h.i.+ngton inevitably lead to the lumber industry and the fertile soil of eastern Was.h.i.+ngton point as unerringly to agriculture. These are the two great industries of the state. The lumberman and the farmer are in the majority.

Already there are sawmills enough in operation to cut up all the standing timber in the state within fifty years. They employ probably 100,000 men. This includes those engaged in logging and the subsidiary industries.

Of the trees the fir is pre-eminently useful, and more than half of the forests of the state are fir trees. It is of greater strength than any of the others and hence is used for all structural work where strength is of special importance. It is rather coa.r.s.e grained, but when quarter sawed produces a great variety of grains very beautiful and capable of high finish and is extensively used for inside finis.h.i.+ngs for houses as well as for frame work. Its strength makes it ideal for the construction of s.h.i.+ps. The yellow pine is strong, medium grained and well fitted for general building purposes, and is very extensively used in eastern Was.h.i.+ngton.

Cedar is very light and close grained and is chiefly used for s.h.i.+ngles, and for this purpose has no superior. The cheaper grades are also used for boxes and sheathing for houses and many other purposes.

The spruce furnishes an odorless wood especially useful for b.u.t.ter tubs; for shelving and similar uses it is superior to either the fir or cedar. It is a white, close grained lumber, and appreciating in value.

The hemlock, whose bark produces tannin for the tanneries, is also a close grained light wood coming more and more into [Page 19]

general use, for many purposes, especially where it will not be exposed to the weather.

Logs frequently seven feet in diameter require big saws, and big carriers 50 to 100 feet long, and hence Was.h.i.+ngton has probably the largest sawmills in the world.

Our lumber is used at home and s.h.i.+pped all over the world to make bridges, s.h.i.+ps, houses, floors, sash, doors, boxes, barrels, tubs, etc. Factories for the manufacture of wood products are scattered all over the state. Most of the sawmills and some factories are driven by steam made by burning sawdust, slabs, and other refuse of the mills. Coal and electricity, however, are both in use.

COAL MINING.

The mining of coal for foreign and domestic purposes is one of the most important of Was.h.i.+ngton's industries. The annual output of the mines is about three million tons, worth about eight million dollars; Fifty thousand tons of c.o.ke are made annually, worth at the ovens about $300,000. The coal mining industry gives employment to 6,000 men. The production of coal for 1907 was distributed as follows:

Kitt.i.tas County, tons 1,524,421 King County, tons 1,446,966 Pierce County, tons 612,539 Lewis County, tons 101,275 Thurston County, tons 33,772 Whatcom County, tons 3,160 Clallam County, tons 300

The c.o.ke nearly all comes from Pierce county.

Nearly forty different corporations and individuals are engaged in coal mining. The coals thus far commercially mined are chiefly lignite and bituminous. These coal measures lie along the base of the foothills, chiefly of the Cascade mountains. Higher up are some mines of anthracite coals, not yet on the market for lack of transportation. As far as discovered they are chiefly near the headwaters of the Cowlitz river in Lewis county. Coal forms the largest factory in furnis.h.i.+ng steam for the mill roads. Some of the railroads, notably the [Page 20]

Northern Pacific and Great Northern, own their own mines and mine the coal for their own engines and shops.

It is also the main fuel supply for domestic uses, although fir and yellow pine cordwood is extensively used when the cost of transportation is not too great.

Coal is also the chief fuel used in steamboats, both those plying over inland waters and the ocean-going boats as well. Here also, however, the fir wood proves a good subst.i.tute and is used to some extent by local steamers on the Sound.

Coal is also used to create both steam and electricity for most of the large heating plants in the cities and in many factories and manufacturing plants, flour mills, elevators, etc. The fact that vast coal measures lie within 50 miles of the seaports of Puget Sound is a very important factor in insuring the construction of manufacturing establishments and the concentration of transportation in these ports.

Coal is also used in all the large cities for the manufacture of illuminating gas and as a by-product of this industry c.o.ke, coal tar, and crude creosote are produced.

The c.o.ke from the ovens goes chiefly to the smelters for the reduction of ores, both of the precious metals and iron.

METAL MINING.

The mining industry other than coal is quite rapidly reaching importance among our industries. There are in the state three large smelters, whose annual output of precious metals far surpa.s.ses in value the output of our coal mines. The ores for these values, however, do not all come from the mines of this state. Other states, British Columbia, Alaska, and some foreign countries help furnish the ores.

But Was.h.i.+ngton has within its borders a great mineralized territory, not yet thoroughly prospected and very little developed, yet which materially a.s.sists in supplying these smelters with their ores.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 17.--Ocean-Going Raft, Built at Stella, Cowlitz County, by the Oregon Rafting Company.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 18.--COWLITZ COUNTY TIMBER. This Stick Was 301 Feet Long and 36 Feet in Circ.u.mference at Stump.]

The smelter at Everett receives a steady supply of a.r.s.enical ores of copper, lead, gold, silver and zinc from the mines of Snohomish county which are of magnitude sufficient to make profitable the railroad which has been built to Monte Cristo [Page 21]

purposely for these ores. This smelter has a special plant for saving the a.r.s.enic in these ores, which materially adds to the value of its output and is said to be the only one of its kind in the nation.

Besides the mines at Monte Cristo, there are copper mines being successfully worked at Index, whose ores are s.h.i.+pped both to Everett and Tacoma.

At Tacoma is located one of the largest smelting and refining plants in the nation, which draws its ores from all parts of the world. At North Port in Stevens county is a smelter which is chiefly supplied with ores from this state, supplemented by those of British Columbia.

At Republic in Ferry county are mines producing gold and silver ores of such extent as to have induced the building of a branch line of railroad to carry their ores to this smelter. There are also in Stevens county large deposits of silver-lead ores, which will be large producers as soon as better transportation is secured.

This last statement is also true regarding many mines in other counties.

FIs.h.i.+NG INDUSTRY.