Its power capacity, in addition to its wood and coal, includes great falls and rapids and many large streams which are already harnessed, but only in part, and driving vast quantities of machinery in this and adjoining counties.

In commercial possibilities King county is unrivaled.  Its combination of lakes, rivers and salt water harbors have no superior on the globe, and the fact of its supremacy is demonstrated by the tabulated statistics of state officers, which show that King county possesses one-fifth of the population of the state and has more than one-quarter in value of taxable property of the state, and pays one-fourth of taxes collected within the state borders.

In scenery, which is no mean asset of the county, it is also unsurpassed.  Vast ranges of mountains, sheets of fresh and salt water, rivers, hills and plains, forests, and grassy fields combine and interlace in a thousand directions to entrance and delight the artistic eye.

In game, including bear, deer, mountain goats, cougar, grouse, pheasants, quail, mountain trout, salmon and other fishes, make many a paradise for the sportsman.

Transportation.

In addition to its salt waterways, with 75 miles of shore lands, and its navigable fresh water lakes, there are centering in the county coming in from all directions seven transcontinental lines of railroads, making King county and its metropolis a great distributing center for the commerce between the American continent and the continents of Asia and the islands of the Pacific.  Besides these steam roads, electric trolley lines are making a network of inter-communication between all parts of King county not only, but reaching out into the adjoining counties.

Cities and towns.

Seattle is the county seat and great metropolis of King county and the state, with a population crowding, if not exceeding, 275,000 people.  It covers the hills and lowlands surrounding Elliot bay, an indentation of Puget sound, and a part of the land between the sound and Lake Washington, a freshwater lake of great beauty paralleling the sound for 23 miles and from one to three miles wide.  It also includes two smaller lakes, whose sloping shores are covered with the homes of its citizens.  From its hills the snow-capped mountains of the Cascade and Olympic ranges and Mount Rainier’s towering peak are visions of surpassing beauty.  A constant stream of coming and going water craft from all quarters of the globe frequent its harbor.  Its business buildings of brick, stone, iron and concrete tower heavenward over four avenues, and many cross streets and miles of its low lands are [Page 64] covered with railroad tracks, warehouses and manufacturing plants.

Its grammar schools, high schools, and State University are equipped with magnificent buildings and grounds.  Its streets and homes are brilliantly lighted with electricity from its own power plants, while the purest water, sufficient for a million people, flows through its water mains, all owned and controlled by the city.