A Review of the Resources and Industries of the State of Washington, 1909 Part 4

Pasturage for bees is also abundant in many parts of the western half of the state, and many a rancher among the forest trees has upon his table the products of his own apiary.

MANUFACTURING OTHER THAN LUMBER.

The State of Was.h.i.+ngton has natural products either within its own borders or nearby, to foster many manufacturing industries, besides those having lumber for their raw material.

In the Puget Sound basin are vast deposits of lime rock, which is manufactured into commercial lime, supplying the home market not only, but is being s.h.i.+pped also to foreign ports. These are chiefly on San Juan island.

Considerable granite of fine quality is used in building and cemetery structures, from quarries in Snohomish and Skagit counties. Sandstone is being used for building purposes and is of splendid texture.

Onyx of great variety and beauty is extensively quarried in Stevens county. Marble of good quality is being sawed up to limited extent.

Quarries in southeastern Alaska furnish rather a better quality and are more extensively worked.

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Clays of great variety, including fire clays and those suitable for terra cotta, are abundant, and large factories in King county are turning out common and pressed brick of many colors and fine finish, vitrified brick for street paving, terra cotta, stoneware, drain tile, sewer pipe and other kindred products.

At Concrete, a town of 1,200 people in Skagit county, two factories, employing 500 men, are daily turning out 1,400 barrels of Portland cement of fine quality, which is finding ready market in all the large cities.

At Irondale, in Jefferson county, a large plant has been in operation turning out pig iron. It is now in process of being turned into a steel plant and within a few months will be turning out steel bars and pipes for sewer, gas and other purposes. The ores are obtained from Whatcom and Skagit counties, some bog iron in the immediate vicinity and additional ores from Vancouver island. More than a half million dollars has already been invested and this will probably reach a full million when the plant is in complete operation. Although iron ores are present in the state in large quant.i.ties, no other serious effort is being made to supply the state with home made pig iron or its products. Here is a vast field awaiting brains and capital. The above represent only a few of the many lines of manufacturing that have been successfully developed in Was.h.i.+ngton.

TRANSPORTATION.

Commerce and transportation are two affinities, ever seeking each other. They have found on Puget Sound an ideal trysting place. Here the s.h.i.+ps of the ocean reach immense placid waters, not duplicated on either side of the continent, and for this reason the railroads have come from the interior to meet them. From foreign ports all over the world ocean carriers are bringing in great loads of merchandise and pa.s.sengers, and the railroads coming from the Atlantic coast across the entire continent bring like loads of merchandise and human freight, and here they are exchanged. Teas from China and j.a.pan for cotton from Galveston and cotton goods from Ma.s.sachusetts; [Page 28]

rice and silk, hemp, matting, tin, copper and j.a.panese bric-a-brac are exchanged for grain, flour, fish, lumber, fruit, iron and steel ware, paper, tobacco, etc. Merchandise of all sorts from Asia, the Philippines, South America and Australia is here exchanged for different stuffs raised or made in every part of the American continent and some from Europe. This commerce, however, is in its infancy. The Northern Pacific and Great Northern railways have fattened on it for years. All their rivals have looked on with envious eyes till now a mad rush is on among them all for vantage ground. The Milwaukee, Canadian Pacific and Burlington systems already run their trains here, while the Union Pacific and others are rus.h.i.+ng for terminals on Puget Sound tide water. And while thus racing for the great long haul prizes, they are incidentally giving to the state a complete system of transportation in all its parts and for all its mult.i.tudinous productions.

Of almost equal importance to the state is its great fleet of local steamers which ply its inland waters, and the numerous electric lines that are rapidly uniting its cities and villages and giving a new and cheap method of migration. From the city of Spokane and radiating in every direction, electric lines are in operation and more are in course of construction, bringing the most distant points of the great "Inland Empire" into close touch with its metropolis and great distributing center. On the west side the same thing is true, only in less degree. Between these two groups of transportation facilities, and the commerce which the union of rail and tidewater has created, the citizens of Was.h.i.+ngton have found innumerable opportunities of employment.

These opportunities are increasing and broadening every year with the continued development of the state and in multiplied and varied form they await the newcomer who possesses the ability to rise to the demands of the situation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 23.--FERRY COUNTY VIEWS. Plant of Karamin Lumber Co., Karamin, Ferry County. (1) Track of Spokane & B. C.

Railway. (2) Track of Spokane Falls & Northern Ry.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 24.--Helphrey Ranch, Curlew, Ferry County.]

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OPPORTUNITIES IN WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

Was.h.i.+ngton is a land of widely diverging natural conditions. Its topographical characteristics vary from the low southern exposures of the inland river valleys, where strawberries mature as early as April, to the mountain summits of the Cascades and Olympics, where winter reigns supreme the year round. Between these extremes may be found every range of climate known to the semi-tropical and temperate zones.

For the Homeseeker.

Our lands include those suitable for the successful raising both of the more tender, as well as the hardier fruits. Every grain, other than corn, yields splendid results, while the truck gardener, small fruit grower, dairyman, stock raiser and, in fact, every man who aims to secure a living and a competence from some form of farm industry will find, if he looks for it, a spot within the confines of this state that will meet his most exacting requirements.

To insure success in any of the above lines requires pluck, energy, stick-to-it-iveness, a determination to secure desired results, and some capital. But given these, the man who is looking to Was.h.i.+ngton as a favored location for the establishment of his household G.o.ds need have no fear of the outcome.

Land may be secured suitable for any of the different purposes mentioned, and with proper care it may be made to yield beyond the most sanguine expectations. A market is ready and waiting to absorb every cla.s.s of product at profitable prices. Transportation facilities are already excellent and the millions now being expended in new railway construction through the state give some idea of what the future holds forth in this particular.

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For the Business Man.

To the business man a new state, developing as is the State of Was.h.i.+ngton, naturally offers numerous and attractive opportunities.

New communities are springing up along the lines of the Milwaukee, the Portland & Seattle, and other railways now in process of construction, each demanding its quota of commercial enterprises, while the older cities and towns are continually absorbing new additions to their population, thus paving the way for new business facilities.

For the Investor.

The investor will find an attractive field of action in Was.h.i.+ngton, and with the exercise of caution and prudence may antic.i.p.ate far better returns than he has been accustomed to, without undue risk of the impairment of his capital. Raw lands, timber lands, improved farms, irrigated lands and city and town property are exhibiting a steady increase in value and undoubtedly will continue to do so for years to come. The capitalist may take his choice of any of these forms of investment, or he may turn to private, industrial or munic.i.p.al securities which are constantly being offered on excellent terms and based upon unimpeachable a.s.sets.

For the Manufacturer.

To the manufacturer this state offers all the conditions that may be cla.s.sed as prerequisite to success. Cheap electric power is available in nearly every community of any size in the state, while millions of horse power remain still undeveloped in the rivers and mountain streams. Raw material is here, in abundance, and the markets of the world are accessible through rail and water transportation.

The princ.i.p.al manufactured products of the state consist of lumber and lumber products, flour, feed and various cereal foods, b.u.t.ter, cheese, evaporated milk, crackers and candy, baking powder, soda, fruit extracts, clothing, boots and shoes, baskets, bags, beer, ice, brick and other clay products, iron products, wagons and agricultural implements, turpentine, leather products, cordage, saws, boilers, asbestos, water pipes, tin cans, railway equipment, s.h.i.+ps and [Page 31]

boats, canned fruits and vegetables and a variety of other products.

Desirable locations are frequently offered free to those who will establish manufacturing industries.

For the Wage Earner.

The wage earner who comes to this state sufficiently fortified to maintain himself and family for a period may usually expect to find satisfactory employment at good wages. Was.h.i.+ngton has never been exploited as a poor man's paradise, but there is a tremendous development in progress throughout the state in every line of industry and there is a steady demand for mechanics and laborers of all cla.s.ses.

The foregoing is intended to present in brief form an outline of the opportunities that await the enterprising newcomer in this state. Success is being achieved in all of the various lines touched upon, by thousands who have located here in the past few years, and as yet the resources of the state have scarcely been touched.

The future of Was.h.i.+ngton is big with promise, based upon results already achieved, and in that future the newcomer may expect to partic.i.p.ate in proportion to the effort he expends.

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WAs.h.i.+NGTON'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.

The importance of a complete and well rounded public educational system has not been overlooked at any stage in the growth and development of this commonwealth. From kindergarten to university no link is wanting to supply the ambitious boy or girl with the very best training that modern educational experts have evolved.

The common school system of the state is based upon the theory that every child must be educated, and that the state must provide the facilities for the accomplishment of this purpose. This theory has been carried out so thoroughly and intelligently that there is scarcely a child in the state of school age who does not live within easy reach of a school house. Moreover, attendance is compulsory and no child is excused unless satisfactory reasons are presented to the proper authorities.

EDUCATIONAL ENDOWMENT.

Upon admission of Was.h.i.+ngton to statehood a land endowment was granted to the state by the federal government for common school purposes which in round numbers totals nearly two and one-half millions of acres. This land is offered for sale or lease by the state, through the office of the state land commissioner, and the proceeds const.i.tute a permanent and irreducible fund to be invested for educational purposes.

In addition to the foregoing lands, the state university has an endowment of 100,000 acres; the agricultural college, 90,000 acres; the scientific school, 100,000 acres, and the state normal schools, 100,000 acres. As yet only a small portion of these lands has been disposed of. The expense of maintaining our schools, therefore, is met almost entirely by taxation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 25.--View of the Country Near Curlew, Ferry County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 26.--Three-Year-Old Orchard, Near Pasco, Franklin County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 27.--Combined Harvester Operating in the Wheat Fields of Franklin County. This Machine Cuts, Threshes and Sacks the Grain, Depositing the Filled Sacks on the Ground as it Moves Through the Field.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 28.--(1) A Jefferson County Country Home.