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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 1889)
WEST KELSO, WASHINGTON. ON the eastern bank of the Cowlitz river is situated the town of Kelso, the principal town of Cowlitz county. Although now a more village its popula tion not numbering more thnn f()0,it has a bright future, surpassed by none of the growing country (owns of the new state of Washington. The town is most centrally located on the Northern Pacific rail road, midway between the Columbia river and the northern boundary of Cowlitz county. There are good wagon roads leading from Kelso to all the rich agri cultural settlements of the county. Next to Lewis county, Cowlitz is the liost agricul tural county in Western Washington. In the year 1SKK there were entered in this county 1:1,000 acres of homestead and 2,210 acres of pre-emption lands, and 2,200 acres were purchased under the timber land act. The increase over theso figures for the year 188!) will 1m- enormous, for the tide of immigration and civilizing inlluencea exceeds the wildest dreams of the past. There are 25,240 acres of surveyed lands in Cowlitx county yet ojien to the land seeker, of which more thnn 18,000 are tributary to Kelso. There are unsurveyed IM..S20 acres of government lands, and of these 70, 000 acres are tributary to Kelso. In addition are the thousands of acres adjacent to the city that have al ready been settled upon under tho public land laws of the United States. Tho preparation of these lands in the near future for a high state of cultivation will aug ment many fold tho rapidly increasing population of Kelso. The Columbia river laves the southern edge of Cowlitz county and stretching northward from ita waters are many broad acres of valuablo land. Tho valleys of the Cowlitz (a navigable stream) and of tho Coweeman and Toutle rivers are unsurpassed in rich agricultural lands, and the beautiful Silver lake re gion, is aho in direct communication with Kelso by means of good wagon roads. Near Kelso have recently been discovered rich beds of coal; and two and a half miles from tho town is a mountain of tested bog iron ore. Near the city are ex tensive forests of cedar and fir, and the big saw mills and sash factories of Portland are supplied with this valuable wood from Cowlitz county. Poside, tho Portland furniture factories aro largely supplied with hard wood taken from the oak forests near Kelso. The cost of the new buildings erected in the town for the year 1888 was W& but the growth in 18MII is much more rapid than that of the past year and there is a more substantial and costlier class of build ings. A board of trade, consisting of the lending citi zens and business tuen has been organized in Kelso with a charter nicmborshipof twenty-eight, and strong and united efforts are made to advance the welfare of the town. Kelso was incororatcd January 1, IHS',1, and the city boundaries embrace nearly one mile square. Within tho corporate limits has been found tho very best brick clay, and tho man who thoroughly under stands the manufacture of brick can establish a profit able business in Kelso, The city is in great need of a bank, and he who has plenty of money to place on short time loans, at good interest, would do well to em bark in a general banking business in Kelso. In ad dition, the following businesses to wit: a fruit and fish cannery, a drug Btoro, jewelry store, saw and shingle mill, Bash and door factory, a blacksmith shop, a buck et and tub factory, a tin and hardware store and a fur niture factory, would thrive well. A largo wharf and warehouse built upon tho Cowlitz river, for the storage of grain and other articles, and for the easy lauding of tho Btoamltoats that ply upon that river, would also pay a handsome interest iiton tho amount of money in vested. The Presbyterian donominaton has erected a hand some academy for the education of boys and girls, which will cost, when fully completed, over $10,1X10. Kelso has one live newspaMr, the Cnurier, several churches and a good public school. It is a growing town of great promise. Kki.ni, Washington, (VMht 28, 188!). Professor Wiley, the chemist of tho agricultural de partment, in his annual rciort, speaks hopefully of tho experiments in the cultivation of sorghum and making sugar from the cane. Kansas takes tho lend in that industry. Considerable in that linn is being done in Iowa and New Jersey, also, and even in Vir ginia, Ixmisiana and Mississippi considerable attention i being given to sorghum cane and sugar. In nearly every statu in the union more or less is Ix'ing done to determine the merits of the business, In all of the northern-eastern states the severe climate makes the raising of sorghum less cortain than it otherwise would bo, and that is one of tho important elements of the case. The government has not pushed its experiments to tho Pacific sloo, where tho most favorable natural conditions exist. In the Yakima valley, In Kastern Washington, the sorghum sugar industry ought to llourish immensely; indeed, it doe llourish In every instance where tried, and it is rapidly looming estab lished there. It iweina an omission on tho part of the national agricultural department that the Pacific north west is entirely ignored In connection with a product for which it Is better suited than any other part of the country. It should I retnemWrod that not all the United States Ilea east of tho Rockies.