THE ri'GET SOI
lumber, the domestic and foreign trade
iii lumber, oriental commerce, and, to
some extent, the coal business, will bo
greatly increased and in some depart
ments it will increase quite rapidly. Ev
"ery place of importance from Olympia
to Victoria is now in a prosperous state,
with bright hopes for the future. The
business men of Olympia are modifying
the organization of their board of trade,
largely increasing the city's harbor facil
ities, and bestirring themselves in many
ways to make the capital city keep pace
with the progress at other points on the
sound. Two lines of railroad are now
building from the head of the sound to
Chehalia river, Gray's harbor and Shoal
water bay, which will open a larger coun
try to the trade of Olympia..
Tacoma will soon have the advantages
jf direct connection with the East by
ail. The Cascades branch of the North
ern Pacific railrond will be opened for
Gallic early in the spring, and a large
portion of the grain of Eastern Wash
ington will go to market by this route;
and the place where wheat is sold will
bo the point where much of the general
trade of the wheat region will le con
trolled. Other industries will bo stim
ulated, or created, by the extension of
the commerce of the city, and furnish
employment to labor and opportunity to
enterprise. The railroad company will
doubtless encourage the im)ortation of
tea from Japan, and the city will, in
many other ways, be benefited by the
railroad, which has already made it a
place of such importance. Although the
railroad is a great reliance, the business
men of Tacoma do not wait for it to do
everything for them, but act on the the
ory that the railroad will help those who
!ielp themselves. They have recently
;ecured the erection of smelting works
!or the reduction of gold, silver and lead
res, that will at first have a capacity of
Ifty tons a day. The city has had a let-
LND OF TO-DAY. i)
tor holiday trade the past month than
ever before. There is no doubt that it
will have a larger growth in 1SS7 than
in any previous year. The exclusion of
the ChineKe him prnvd a grt ndmn
tago to the city. Every occupation is
now ojH'n to free American Ialorer, who
add to the general proHpority by con
suming, as well as producing, the fruits
of domestic lalnir.
Apart from other substantial grounds
of prosperity, Seattle Iihs rnilroad pros
pects, as well as Tacoma. It will, doubt
less, by a short extension of a line al
ready constructed, connect with the Cas
cades branch, and thus securo equal fa
cilities for doiug its own business on the
Northern Pacific, and will have other
railroad connections of the first inixr-
tance. There is a charter for a railroad
along the enst shore, to a connection with
the Canadian Pacific, and a survey for
the route is alout completed. The con
struction of this road would lie of great
imortance to tho entire country around
the sound, as it would give, not Seattle
only, but Tacoma aud Portland, a rail
connection with tho Canadian road. An
other railroad that is likely to bo built
soon is the Seattle, Iakn Shoro and East
em, to open a vast region in tho vicinity
of Snoqualmio pass, and to extend, jht
haps, to SjxAano Palis. Tho largo de
posits of iron ore on this proposal lino
have been recently tiUd by eastern sUnd
manufacturers, and it is projswod to
bring this ore to the sound and manu
facture it into sU'el.
At Port Townsend and Victoria there
has leen great improvement during tho
past year. Everywhere, as I havw said,
there are signs of progrens, and the coun
try generally seems to li on the evo of
rapid development With tho oening
of the direct lino l tho Eaxt, acroM tho
Cascade mountains, and the extension
of the Canadian Pacific t Seattle and
Tacoma, great impetus will l given to