The Industrial Ambition of the Seattle Waterfront

The San Francisco Post, in a recent issue, opens a long and readable article upon this topic with the following generous tribute to one of our most promising industries: 'Without any flourish of trumpets, gradually, shipbuilding on the Pacific Coast is becoming one of our industries. Hall Brothers, of Port Ludlow, in the space of a few years, have turned out vessels of every description, from the light schooner to the full-rigged ship. At Seattle, within the last two years, a shipbuilding yard has been started. The immense length to which yellow fir, of which all vessels built on the Sound are constructed, can be cut, enabled their builders to secure a splendid run, and their performance in every way justified the most sanguine anticipation of their owners. The advantages which our yellow fir possesses are, in a word, a most valuable asset for shipbuilding purposes... So that there is no reason why, with energy and push, we should not create a vast shipbuilding industry on the Pacific Coast, and in time carry our own trade on our own bottoms.' We have the right location here for the construction of the fleets—naval and commercial—of the marine world. We assert, without fear of successful contradiction, that with adequate capital invested to carry on the work most economically, ships can be built here cheaper, and all things considered, of better quality than anywhere else in the world. The grand seat of this industry must be moved to the shores of Puget Sound sooner or later. The force of natural circumstances will compel it.