Page:Pacific Monthly volumes 9 and 10.djvu/87



PROGRESS

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just filed with Gov. McBride. shows an in- crease in the production of butter in this state of 2,000,000 pounds during the past two years, and of 100,000 pounds of cheese during the same time.

Probably the most valuable cargo ever sent from a Puget Sound port to the Orient went on the Nippon Yuscn Kaisha's steam- ship lyo, which sailed from Seattle, Oct. 21, for Japan and China. It consisted of Ameri- can products valued at more than $800,000. Of this amount the cotton shipment was valued at $400,000.

The Moses Lake Irrigation Company has been incorporated. The principal office is in North Yakima. David Longmire is presi- dent; C. G. Wands, vice-president; Edward Treat, secretary. The object is to take the water from Moses lake (Douglas county, Washington), for the purposes of irrigation. The company proposes to cover thirty or forty sections.

Seattle did $16,713,420 worth of business with Nome during the season of 1902. The Nome traffic for the year is at an end. Six vessels are returning. Definite data, how- ever, as to the number of passengers and the amount of freight carried by them is at hand.

IdaKo —

State Mining Inspector Martin Jacobs es- timates the mineral production in Idaho for IQ02 at $10,924,371.83— gold, $2,467,233.21; silver, $5,421,583.62; lead. $3,035,655.

General Manager P. P. Shelby, of the Po- catello & Idaho Northern, declares that con- struction on the proposed railroad to the north will be commenced in the spring and pushed to an early completion. This line will tap one of the richest sections of Idaho, traversing the copper region of the Seven Devils country and the farming district of the Salmon river valley.

The Idaho Sugar Company has been formed, with a capital of $1,000,000. The company will erect a mammoth beet sugar factorv near Blackfoot. Five thousand acres already have been contracted for the culti- vation of beets.

Mr. Martin L. Jacobs, state mining in- spector, is authority for the statement that "the mining industry in Idaho is now in a better condition than ever before. At the present time there is more capital ready for mining investment in Idaho than in past years. All portions of the state are enjoy- ing activity in this industry. In the silver districts of the southern parts of the state, while the recent slump in silver has reduced the margin of profit considerably, yet I

know of no instances of any mines closing down on this account. If the market suf- fers a much further decline it may necessi- tate the shutting down of some silver mines in Custer and Blaine counties. The Coeur d'Alenes are. by far the largest producers in the state, but Owyhee county, Custer coun- ty and Blaine county have many mines that are active producers."

The comparative cost of running the drills of a mine by steam, compressed air or electricity will soon be a matter of record. The management of the Hecla has installed an electric drill on the 300-foot level. A record of the time spent in drilling, the number of holes, and their depth, the num- ber of cars of ore taken out, etc., will be kept, to be compared with records of com- pressed air and steam. This test is an im- portant one, as the Washington Water Power Company, of Spokane, is running an electric power line into the Coeur d*Alenes to supply power to all the mines of this dis- trict.

Montana —

Of all the industries now lying dormant in Montana, probably the one that oflFers thje greatest possibilities of success is that of dairying This business, which has been so highly developed and is so great a source of wealth production in other states, has been almost wholly neglected in what is undoubt- edly one of the most favorabk localities in the United States for its successful prose- cution. There are not one half dozen cream- eries in operation in the whole state, and the capacity of these is very limited. Two that were in successful operation in Mis- soula county have been recently destroyed by fire and have not been rebuilt.

BritisK Colt&mbia—

The new railway and traffic bridge being erected across the Fraser at New Westmin- ster is progressing rapidly and it is ex- pected that this important highway will be opened for traffic before the end of the present year. The bridge, when completed, will be the largest in the Pacific Northwest, and it is being erected by the government of British Columbia at a cost of over half a million dollars. Already six railways and one electric tram line have applied for rail- way rights over it.

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A large new hotel is about to be erected in New Westminster. It will be a four-story structure, and when completed will be the most modern hostelry in the city. .0.0

British Columbia has shipped this year 50,000,000 feet of lumber to all parts of the world, the province benefitting to the extent of $1,000,000. The shingle business con- tinues to be very active; new/ffiills are^lop- igi ize y ^