Spokane Falls Fires Back at the Boom-Sayers

Frank [C——], an old typo acquaintance and a writer of merit and ability, has taken charge of the Walla Walla Epigram, a weekly society paper, and in the very first issue under his administration he allows some ignoramus to hoodwink him to the following extent:

"A well-informed traveling man thinks that Spokane Falls' limit of population is inside or near; that there is really no good country within a radius of fifteen miles; that there are other points near by just as capable of commanding the trade of that region, and having water power just as serviceable, if not as powerful. The fact of the inhabitants permitting their only daily paper to die from lack of patronage does not speak well for the boasted enterprise. He says there is quite a let-up in the boom of the same, and not near the people stopping there that there used to be, people having discovered that the town was 'worked,' and kept up by real estate men and speculators. He predicted that it was at its zenith now, at least for some time to come."

Now, of all the many falsehoods written against this city, of all the envious, derogatory slanders that have gone forth, there are none that can surpass the above in bold, unwarranted, exaggerated misstatements. The editor's credulity has been most woefully played upon, and we regret that he has permitted himself to be so imposed upon, when there are men in Walla Walla who could have told him different. As to the "well-informed traveling man," we are of the opinion that he was "playing" the Epigram, or for some reason best known to himself is endeavoring to injure the Falls by circulating that which he knows to be false, if he ever set his foot in this city. To those who are at all acquainted with Spokane Falls the statement as quoted above will be looked upon as a silly joke, but there are those who will swallow them whole as gospel, and be surprised that after so much has been said about Spokane it was no more of a place than now represented. It is hardly necessary for us to refute the misstatements, but we can not let it pass unnoticed, especially as the item is being copied by those who wish it might be so, and thus have an excuse for spreading the idea abroad without compromising themselves. Instead of five hundred population, there are certainly five hundred houses in Spokane Falls, and the demand for buildings, no matter how poor, is far greater than the supply. Early in the spring there was a population, by census, of 1,000, and upward of 800 people have since been numbered to that total. Instead of losing ground there is not a train coming into the city from the east or west but that it adds to the quota of the city's population. As proof of this it is only necessary to see the immense stack of trunks and baggage that is piled up on the depot platform every morning. The one absorbing question now is, what are the new arrivals to do for quarters? The second charge is as absurd as that. If the "traveling man" had but stuck his critical nose outside of the beautiful and valuable belt of timber that environs the city, he would have seen just as good land as can be found in the Territory. On every hand, but a few miles away, are fertile prairies that are miraculously productive and large in extent. Besides, it has been demonstrated that the great gravelly Spokane plateau is capable of producing good crops of cereals. Thirdly, that there are other points near having just as serviceable water power, we most emphatically deny. We do not claim the entire and exclusive water power of the northwest, but we do claim, and without fear of successful contradiction, that the water power of Spokane eminently surpasses anything in the northern country, not excepting even Minneapolis, and we are strengthened in this assertion by such men as Senator Plumb, E. J. Smalley, William M. Evarts and a score of gentlemen who have traveled and made disinterested observations. The claim of a "let-up in the boom" is moonshine. There never was what can be termed a "boom." No artificial means were ever resorted to in order to shove the place ahead. It relied upon its merits for growth, and that growth has been steady, healthy, and shows every sign of continuing. No real estate speculators have ever made money on property here as intimated in the Epigram. It is true outsiders have invested in land, but the majority have improved it, and the fact that the values have more than doubled this season show that they made wise use of their money. The town was never "kept up" by real estate men, unless such old residents as Cannon, Glover, Brown, Havermale and other early settlers can be classed under such a head.

Those who imagine that the city is now at its "zenith" will be most conspicuously fooled a year hence. The entire article is mere fustian, without the semblance of truth for a foundation.

We most cordially invite the editor of the Epigram to visit Spokane Falls just at the present time, and we will take him around and show him to his utter astonishment that he has been led into a series of grave errors. We will take him over the new and substantial bridge, just being finished at a cost of several thousand dollars, where he can look upon the great falls and cascades in all their pristine beauty and realize their unlimited power; over to the Methven College, a noble structure that equal not to be found in the northwest, and from the windows of its furnished rooms show him a panorama of buildings that will make his heart expand and a great joy encompass him that he had been permitted to live to look upon such a sight, the handiwork of energetic men set in a frame of quiet, attractive scenery furnished gratis by nature. From there we will lead him through streets presenting an animated appearance by the constant moving of crowds of people, the rattle of vehicles, the movements of builders and the active, enterprising throng around our merchants. We will point out a half dozen or more massive bricks under way, representing an expense of $100,000, and if that does not satisfy him of the stability and growth of Spokane Falls we will drive him north, northeast and west, and on every hand give him ocular benefit of scores of residences under way or just completed, representing every grade of architecture, but by far the greatest number expensive and permanent edifices. And in the end the gentleman will go home dazed and hardly able to believe the evidence of his own optics, and convinced that he has been made the cat's paw by some unscrupulous joker. We do not claim that Spokane Falls is the largest city in the Territory, nor that it is a rival to any of them, but we know that it has advantages that other points do not possess, which will eventually make of it quite a comfortably large village. Newspapers may not be encouraged as they should be, and there may be crudities to overcome, but our faith in the future of the city is as stainless as the infinite, pine-crowned head of the eternal mountains that have looked down for ages upon the emerald cascading of a cataract that has given name to as pretty a town site as can be found upon the American continent.