WASHINGTON. 



WEST IX I) IKS. 



755 



ing districts has been done in the Monte Cri.-tit 

 region. This district, which is :5 by ~> miles in 

 extent, is traversed | ( y two great glacial gorges 

 running parallel ami. uniting at tiicir u 

 end-. A railroad 50 miles long has been built 

 into this district at a cost of nearly $40.onn a 

 mile, and the mining companies in t lie district 

 hn\e an aggregate capital of $25,000,000. An 

 inieresting discovery of gold quart/ was made 

 within the limits of the city of Tacoma on I ><. 

 ."). The lateM estimate of the coal area of the 

 State is 1,000,000 acres, extending into 18 coun- 

 ties, and discoveries of new veins have been fre- 

 quent. A new coal mine is being opened at 

 Roslyn, the shaft of which will be 18 by 30 feet 

 acro.vs, und (>20 feet from the surface to the coal. 

 The total out put of coal for the year is estimated 

 at 1,500,000 tons, about two thirds of which was 

 shipped out of the State. Aluminum has be. n 

 discovered in Kittitas County and graphite in 

 Lewis County, and companies were orguni/.ed 

 during Hie year for working these beds. 



Fisheries. An estimate of the fishing catch 

 for the year, aside from the cannery bu>im -ss. is 

 as follows: Salmon, 8,000,000 pounds; sturgeon, 

 6,000,000 pounds; halibut. 1,500,000 pounds; 

 herring and perch, 1,500.000 pounds; smelt, 

 1,000.000 pounds; codfish, 220,000 pounds; carp 

 and catfish, 100,000 pounds; oysters, 20,(!00 

 sacks ; clams, 10,000 sacks. The value of this 

 product is placed at $915,500. 



Lumber. On Dec. 31, 1893, there were in 

 the State 227 sawmills, 300 shingle mills, and 

 73 sash-and-door and other wood-working fac- 

 tories. The amount invested in the lumber 

 business was estimated at $25,000,000, and the 

 value of the annual product at $15.000,000. 

 The output of the mills for 1893 was : Lumber 

 (feet), 1,164.425,880; lath, 436.716.000; shingles. 

 1.883,868,750. The foreign shipments from Dec. 

 1. is.)2. to Nov. 30, 1893, were: Lumber (feet), 

 88,717,658; shingles, 1,757,000. The domestic 

 shipments went to 33 States and Territories, and 

 were : Lumber (feet), 364,316,523 ; shingles. !) 1 :!.- 

 300,000. The number of acres of standing tim- 

 ber in the State is 23,588,512, estimated to con- 

 tain 4K>.::::::.:;:;r>.000 feet of lumber. 



Pacific Forestry Reserve. President Ilar- 

 rison in January wfthdrew from entry a tract in 

 the Cascade mountains :!."> by 40 miles in ex- 

 tent, including Mount Tacoma, and it is e\- 

 peeted that ( 'ongress will make the withdrawal 

 permanent by creating a national park within 

 the limits of the tract, to be known as the Pacific 

 Forestry Reserve. It embraces some of the wild- 

 est and most picturesque scenery in the world. 

 At its center, clustering about Mount Tacoma, 

 are great glacial fields, and in its lower altitudes 

 are beautiful valleys, numerous cataracts, and 

 gigantic forests. Recent calculations have caused 

 the announcement that .Mount Tacoma approxi- 

 mates l."),(M)() feet in height. Its altitude has 

 heretofore been placed at 14.444 feet. 



Road Convention. The subject of road im- 

 provement has become one of leading considera- 

 tion throughout the State. The Legislature dealt 

 with it, but not altogether satisfactorily, and at 

 the suggest ion of the State Pres* Association (Jov. 

 McGraw called a State road convention to meet 

 at Olympia on Dec. 19. The meeting, which 

 was well attended, disapproved a proposition 



favoring the bonding of the State for $5,000,000 



for road and irrigation purp"-.-~. Among the- 

 n-solutions adopted by the convention wen.- the 

 following: 



That Congress should donate to the State 25 per 



(lit. i. full moneys rt-ulixi-il from the *ale nf public 

 lunds in tin- Siai'-. to In: used tbrthe purpoie of build- 

 ing und maintaining roucta. 



That moneys aceniing To the. State, from the sale of 

 tide land.-, lie appropriated for road pur) 



That the wiilth of wagon tires he regulated by 

 law, and that the IIM- of \\ilu tires be encourugol \>'\ 

 ofleriii:.' rel.ates of tuxes. 



That ull prisoners convicted of felonies or inisde- 

 ineiniors he required to work public roads. 



That ('IIL'IV^ should jrrunt to each of the new 

 States .",i i.i ioi i acres of public land for road-improve- 

 ment pur]- 



That an inheritance tax should be levied on the 

 estates of person^ \vlin shall die possessed of property 

 of The vulue of $1,000 or more, the revenue arising 

 therefrom to he paid into a State road fund. 



That n chair of road engineering should be estab- 

 li>hed in the State Agricultural College. 



Provision was made for submitting to the 

 next Legislature a series of bills embodying the 

 views of the convention. 



Horticulture. The fruit-raising interest is 

 growing into one of great importance. During 

 the year a great impetus was given to prune 

 growing, and many orchards of that fruit were 

 set out in the western half of the State. In the 

 Yakima country and other sections east of the 

 Cascades peach raising has become very success- 

 ful, and on lands reclaimed by irrigation in the 

 central portion of the State very thrifty orchards 

 are growing. Apple, pear, cherry, and plum 

 orchards also bear heavily in various sections. 



WEST INDIES, an archipelago dividing the 

 Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Except 

 the Spanish colonies (see CUBA and PUERTO Rico) 

 and Hayti (see HAYTI and SANTO DOMINGO), the 

 Hands are possessions of Great Britain, France, 

 Denmark, and the Netherlands. 



British Colonies. The British islands are 

 Jamaica, the Bahamas, Barbadoes, Trinidad, and 

 the Leeward and Windward Islands. 



Jamaica has a Legislative Assembly of 18 mem- 

 bers, one half of them elective, and the rest 

 official or nominated by the Governor. The 

 present Governor is Sir Henry Arthur Blake. 

 The area of the island is 4.193 square miles. 

 The population in 1891 was 639,491, of whom 

 488,624 were pure blacks, 121,955 colored or half- 

 breeds, 14,692 white, 10,116 East Indian, 41 

 Chinese, and 3,623 not specified. Of the East 

 Indians, 7.223 were indentured laborers. The 

 number of marriages in 1891 was 3,560; of 

 births. 21.507; of deaths, 16,040. The military 

 force is 1,434 men. The revenue for 1891 was 

 779.000, and the expenditure 782,000. The 

 debt is 1,520,000. There are 89 miles of rail- 

 road and (I!*.") miles of telegraph. The number 

 of dispatches wired in eighteen months ending 

 March :!1. 1S!M. was 159,499. The poM-ofliee in 

 the year 1S91-'J)2 carried 2,760,617 letters. The 

 chief products are sugar, rum, coffee, fruits, 

 sweet potatoes, pimento, cattle, and cinchona. 

 The imports in 1891 were valued at 1.760,000, 

 and the exports at fl.T'Jv.'. 



Barbadoes has a Representative Assembly of 

 94 elected members. The present Governor is 

 Sir J. S. Hav. The island has an area of 16G 



