The west shore., August 01, 1885, Page 228, Image 2

228
THE WEST SHORE.
ii developing so rapidly that added transportation facili
ties will bo constantly required.
Fohtv yearn ago the fir! American M-ttlemeut was
mode ou Fuget Hound, nud y t there are large areas in
niwrn naKhitigton practically unexplored and un
known. Ono of these in the greut Olympic Rouge, lying
U-twoen the Sound and the Pacific Ocean. These moun
tain wore find notod and named liy tho early explorers,
Iwf.ire the existence of that great inland sea to the east
of theni waa oven suspected, and their beauty has always
been one of the chief attractions of a voyage upon the
placid waters of the Bound. Their white, jagged tops
are familiar, but the lower kills and mountains about
them are an unknown wilderness to a great extent
Lieutenant Joseph P. McNeill of the Fourteenth In
funtry, has been detailed, with three enlisted men, to
make a reconnaissance of that region the present season.
It is a rough, rugged country, and it is doubtful if Lieu
tenant McNeill suoceeds in doing more than to confirm
tho present opinion hold of it that it is comparatively
vnluoless except for lU mass of timber.
Orkat are railroads. They have done more to cement
the Union, to bind the North to the South and the East
to the West, than any other factor, through enabling a
f roe intorchaiiKO of visits bv the doodIo of all Quarters nf
the Union. They have also, in the same manner, re-
111 . A. I
uoemou me veracity ol the people ot the Pacific Coast
iroin uio taint winch lias always clung to it in the East
If we mentioned our big trees, big waterfalls, big crops,
or biff anything, our mild winters and rninliwn lmrvuta
we wore met with smiles of incredulity, and, worse yot,
our statements were picked up and improved upon by
writers of "Western sketches" who had nevorseen the
Rooky Mountains from their farthest eastern horizon,
much to the detriment of our credit nnnrftllw. Nn ;
O --J ' ' vnj
seems, ilia railroads have brought us so many visitors
, uuring tne past two years that the spread of knowledge
has wrought a wonderful chnngo in our favor, and an
old pioneer can return to the scenes of his youth and
speak of the many wonders of this region without being
threatened with a commission to inquire into his lunacy
tr iiiuiciinmii as a common liar.
FaOlUULY few of the thousands who will r,l
description on anolhor page of the immense copper mines
mi smeiiers 01 uutw, will not express astonishment at
their magnitude and have their ideas ot the copper indus
try of the United States greatly expanded. Butte is,
howeror, but one factor iu the copper world, though, to
U sura, largo oue. Copper i produced throughout
the Pacific Coast, as well as in the older and bettor known
mines of Ike Superior, where large deposits of native
eopxr are found, aud other places iu the East. Recent
repoiU by General McClellan, Presideut of the Grand
Belt Copper Company, and A. J. Woiuolsdorf, civil and
wining engineer, indicate that Texas will soon become
an important factor iu the industry. For some time pt
there have boeu rumors of a copper revolution to be
effectod by a great discovery in Texas, and the report of
these gentlemen discloses their foundation. It seems
that the Grand Belt property consists of 36,000 acres in
Hardman, King, Knox and 8tonewall counties, showing
copper ore in surface deposits and cropping. It is pro
nounced a contact vein from seven to ten feet thick. ., The
ore is an arenaceous copper-impregnated schist, the cop
per being both carbonates and sulphides, assaying from
15 to 75 per cent, and can be worked by open cuts, with
out the enormous expense of tunnels, shafts and hoisting
works. The report says that 5,000 tons have already
been mined, and smelting works will soon be in opera
tion. The result of operations by the Grand Belt will be
looked for with considerable interest New lodes are
being developed in a number of places, and it would
seem as though the copper product would be largely in
creased during the next few years. It is probable that
the demand for its use in the mechanical arts will in
crease in a like ratio, and render the copper industry a
continuously profitable one. -
Much has been said in these columns from time to
time about the future establishment of a route for Asiatic
trade by the way of Puget Sound and the Northern
Pacific People who imagine that commerce, like their
own ideas, will run continually in the same old ruts, have
honored such predictions with nothing but smiles of in
credulity. Yet there is nothing more certain than that a
portion, at least, of the Asiatic through trade will be ere
long diverted from San Francisco and the transcontinen
tal routes terminating in that city, to go by the way of
I ugot Hound. It is folly to suppose that two such great
roads as the Northern Pacific and Canadian Pacific will
pormit the old routes to retain this traffio unmolested.
It is only a question of time, and a brief time at that,
when regular lines of vessels will be running from the
terminal points of both of those great overland routes.
In fact, the expected arrival at Tao jma within a few days
of the British bark JgrtfteJ, 1,260 tons, from Yokohama,
loauoa with teas, silks, rice and other goods, and con
signed to the Northern Pacific Railroad,, shows that
this trade is not even to wait upon the establishment of
those regular lines. These goods are destined to St Paul,
Chicago, New York Bnd Montreal, and will be carried
across the continent by the Northern Pacific and connect
ing lines. It would seem as though Taooma's dream of
future commercial importance were less of a oreation of
the fancy than some peonle have benn innUnv1 tn thinV.
There is another point to be considered. The Union
I acihc, which now has a virtual terminus in Portland.
cannot be expected to remain idle while rival lines are
uius taking possession of this thmnali tiffin Tt b
already been hinted that this company will establish s
trans-Pacifio steamer line from PnrtUml in ita nvn in far.
est. When this is done the prophetic vision of Missouri's
great Senator nearly forty years ago wiU materialize, and
stream of Asiatic trade will pour into the mouth of the
Co umbia; though, probably, Mr. Benton's idea that the
Columbia will become the one ereat eliannl of Asiatic