A Review of the Resources and Industries of the State of Washington, 1909 | Page 8

is one of the
most important of Washington's industries. The annual output of the
mines is about three million tons, worth about eight million dollars;
Fifty thousand tons of coke are made annually, worth at the ovens
about $300,000. The coal mining industry gives employment to 6,000
men. The production of coal for 1907 was distributed as follows:
Kittitas County, tons 1,524,421 King County, tons 1,446,966 Pierce
County, tons 612,539 Lewis County, tons 101,275 Thurston County,
tons 33,772 Whatcom County, tons 3,160 Clallam County, tons 300
The coke nearly all comes from Pierce county.
Nearly forty different corporations and individuals are engaged in coal
mining. The coals thus far commercially mined are chiefly lignite and
bituminous. These coal measures lie along the base of the foothills,
chiefly of the Cascade mountains. Higher up are some mines of
anthracite coals, not yet on the market for lack of transportation. As far

as discovered they are chiefly near the headwaters of the Cowlitz river
in Lewis county. Coal forms the largest factory in furnishing steam for
the mill roads. Some of the railroads, notably the [Page 20] Northern
Pacific and Great Northern, own their own mines and mine the coal for
their own engines and shops.
It is also the main fuel supply for domestic uses, although fir and
yellow pine cordwood is extensively used when the cost of
transportation is not too great.
Coal is also the chief fuel used in steamboats, both those plying over
inland waters and the ocean-going boats as well. Here also, however,
the fir wood proves a good substitute and is used to some extent by
local steamers on the Sound.
Coal is also used to create both steam and electricity for most of the
large heating plants in the cities and in many factories and
manufacturing plants, flour mills, elevators, etc. The fact that vast coal
measures lie within 50 miles of the seaports of Puget Sound is a very
important factor in insuring the construction of manufacturing
establishments and the concentration of transportation in these ports.
Coal is also used in all the large cities for the manufacture of
illuminating gas and as a by-product of this industry coke, coal tar, and
crude creosote are produced.
The coke from the ovens goes chiefly to the smelters for the reduction
of ores, both of the precious metals and iron.
METAL MINING.
The mining industry other than coal is quite rapidly reaching
importance among our industries. There are in the state three large
smelters, whose annual output of precious metals far surpasses in value
the output of our coal mines. The ores for these values, however, do not
all come from the mines of this state. Other states, British Columbia,
Alaska, and some foreign countries help furnish the ores. But
Washington has within its borders a great mineralized territory, not yet
thoroughly prospected and very little developed, yet which materially
assists in supplying these smelters with their ores.
[Illustration: Plate No. 17.--Ocean-Going Raft, Built at Stella, Cowlitz
County, by the Oregon Rafting Company.]
[Illustration: Plate No. 18.--COWLITZ COUNTY TIMBER. This Stick
Was 301 Feet Long and 36 Feet in Circumference at Stump.]

The smelter at Everett receives a steady supply of arsenical ores of
copper, lead, gold, silver and zinc from the mines of Snohomish county
which are of magnitude sufficient to make profitable the railroad which
has been built to Monte Cristo [Page 21] purposely for these ores. This
smelter has a special plant for saving the arsenic in these ores, which
materially adds to the value of its output and is said to be the only one
of its kind in the nation.
Besides the mines at Monte Cristo, there are copper mines being
successfully worked at Index, whose ores are shipped both to Everett
and Tacoma.
At Tacoma is located one of the largest smelting and refining plants in
the nation, which draws its ores from all parts of the world. At North
Port in Stevens county is a smelter which is chiefly supplied with ores
from this state, supplemented by those of British Columbia. At
Republic in Ferry county are mines producing gold and silver ores of
such extent as to have induced the building of a branch line of railroad
to carry their ores to this smelter. There are also in Stevens county large
deposits of silver-lead ores, which will be large producers as soon as
better transportation is secured. This last statement is also true
regarding many mines in other counties.
FISHING INDUSTRY.
The business of catching, preserving and selling fish gives employment
probably to more than 10,000 men in this state and adds probably four
million dollars annually to its wealth production. The fishes include
salmon, which is the chief commercial species, cod in many varieties,
halibut, salmon trout, perch, sole,