91 
a limited extent, and greater development in this branch is 
hoped for. The abundance of iron and coal in our valley, and 
the great demand for axes and other edged-tools among our 
lumbermen, justifies the hope that hardware in its various 
branches may ere long be manufactured on the Sound. The 
annual grain crops have called several mills into active opera- 
tign. Various grades of flour and feed for domestic and other 
purposes are ground and furnished at moderate figures. 
Tanneries are in active operation; the cheapness of hides 
and the abundance of oak, laurel, birch, fir and hemlock bark in 
these regions, enable those establishments to furnish good 
leather. The superiority of our stock, the present demand for 
lumbering, and the prospective requirements of the fishermen, 
warrants earnest development in manufacturing heavy, strong 
boots. Several establishments are now engaged in that indus¬ 
try, and many more are needed to supply the demand, which is 
enormous, and daily on the increase. We commend this busi¬ 
ness to practical bootmakers of means and pluck. 
Health. Our romantic country, basking in countless bless¬ 
ings, enjoys an enviable eminence on the score of health. Our 
cool nights forbids the nestling of fever or ague in our valley. 
The ills to which the flesh is heir in less favored climes seldom 
perch on our shores. No poisonous reptiles or mad dogs dis¬ 
turb our community—quacks betake themselves to honest labor, 
while “ divine professors of the healing art” reap their bread by 
the sweat of the brow. 
Our limited space admonishes economy, and items of general 
information are passed over. We append the annexed exhibit 
for the Territory of Washington from the recent census of 1870 : 
