MT. TACOMA, WASHINGTON TERRITORY. HEIGHT 14440 FEET.
REDUCTION OF ORES OF THE NORTHWEST.
Yearly the output of ores in the mines of Oregon, Washington and Northern Idaho is increasing. Not only are the older mines enlarging their yield, but new ones are constantly being developed. New mineral discoveries are made frequently and the number of mining districts increases every year. The remarkable mines being developed in the Cœur d’Alene, Okanagan, Colville, Pine Creek, Cracker Creek and other districts, have placed this region in the front rank of mining interests in the United States, and point to a future of unbroken prosperity for many years. At some point so situated as to reach each of these districts with almost equal facility, and where all the essentials for the reduction of ores, such as coal, iron, wood, limestone, etc., exist or can be cheaply procured, will be established immense reduction works. Such a point is Tacoma, and a project is already well advanced to inaugurate this industry on an extensive scale. A smelting company has been incorporated with a capital stock of $1,000,000.00, and ground has been secured on the water front for the extensive buildings required. The plant will have a daily capacity of two hundred tons at first, but this will be enlarged after the business is well established. President and chief promoter of this enterprise is Mr. Dennis Ryan, proprietor of the famous Hotel Ryan, of St. Paul, and extensively engaged in mining enterprises. The marvelously rich ores of Alaska will be drawn upon largely, and will find here their nearest market. All the indications point to Tacoma as the head of the mining industry in this region not only because of its reduction works, but because of the large investments its capitalists are making in mining properties.
SPRAGUE BUILDINGS—TACOMA.
PARKS, DRIVES AND AQUATICS.
Parks are the adjuncts of cities of more mature years than this young giant of Puget sound, but nature has provided here that which many other cities acquire only by the outlay of much money and labor through a series of years. Lying south of the city, and but a short distance beyond its present limits, is a beautiful, level, gravelly plain, studded with oak trees, in the midst of which are lakes of clear, sparkling water. American lake, shown in the engraving opposite, where it forms the foreground for a beautiful landscape, of which Mount Tacoma is the central figure, attracts hundreds of pleasure seekers. Its waters teem with trout, and its shining surface offers both the oarsman and the yachtsman an opportunity to indulge in their favorite amusement. The drive from the city to the park is one of keen enjoyment to one whose eye drinks in the beauties of nature, and who delights to fill his lungs with the pure air, fragrant with the odor of forest and mountain. Other drives, in and about the city, offer the visitor exhilarating pleasure and beautiful landscapes. Not the least of the enjoyments of the tourist temporarily sojourning in the city is the row or sail on the placid waters of the harbor, or the more exciting sport of trolling for salmon in the bay. As many as a dozen fine salmon, from five to fifteen pounds in weight, are often caught in a few hours in the early morning. A boat house stands at the water’s edge, where row and sail boats may be procured, and morning and evening and on moonlight nights at a late hour, these little craft dart over the bay with their loads of pleasure seekers.