198 Musings by Camp- Fire and Wayside 



caught was a ducking. They assure me, however, 

 that this month of May, 1899, is exceptional. The 

 very, very old people here are Indians. The oldest 

 Indian says there has been no such cloudy May in 

 the last twelve hundred moons. I was wondering 

 whether that old Indian made his living by telling 

 that story to strangers. He appeared to be well 

 fed and fat. But there is the weather bureau with 

 its exact records. Dr. Ramsay stands by the 

 Italian skies of Seattle, and proves it by the incon- 

 testable history in the meteorological records. 

 Indeed, that is what the weather bureau in Seattle 

 is for. There is not enough weather out of doors 

 to meet the demand, so they keep a supply of it in 

 cold storage. 



The city of Seattle is built on a ridge which rises 

 from the Sound to a height of nearly five hundred 

 feet and descends to Lake Washington, a body of 

 deep water twenty-eight miles long and from one to 

 three miles broad. There are about three thousand 

 acres of salt marsh, flooded by the tide, which can 

 be filled at small comparative cost and occupied for 

 business purposes. Lake Washington offers the 

 finest residence district in the country. It is 

 reached by cable, and is plied by small steamers. 

 A ship canal utilizing another deep lake — Lake 

 Union — which nearly unites the fresh water harbor 

 with the salt, will soon be built, and the lake will 

 be the resting-place for ships of the navy. It would 

 be difficult to imagine a more inviting place for 



