There can be practically but two railroad entrances to Seattle, one from the south, and the other from the north, owing to the bluff ground on which the city is built, with Puget Sound in front and Lake Washington in the rear. The roads from the existing coal mines and from the Northern Pacific enter from the south; the Lake Shore road enters from the north. Suburban improvements will no doubt be extended both north and south. But it seemed to me that for residences and amusements the northern end has the advantage, as the high lands are more convenient to the railroad, and command fine views of those beautiful lakes on the east, and of the Sound on the west. Here will be the pleasant drives, the place for sailing, rowing and swimming; for open-air games, picnics, etc. On the east side of Lake Washington will be vegetable and fruit gardens and dairies, whose products will reach the city by this railroad; to all of which have been added the powerful influence of the Moss Bay operations. The logging business begins in sight of the city, and a number of logging camps were already in operation along the first twenty miles of the railroad. After the loggers, follow the farmers. Already a surprising number of people have established homes in this direction. [Sidenote: Factories of the future.] [Sidenote: Ship canal.] Near the Sound and a little distance from the city will be great saw-mills, grain elevators, canneries, and, in time, fish-oil and fertilizer mills, tanneries, smelting furnaces, sulphuric acid and other chemical works. And here will be the ship canal connecting the lakes with the Sound, and the shipyards of the future. [Illustration: A TRAIN-LOAD OF LOGS ON THE SEATTLE, LAKE SHORE AND EASTERN RAILWAY.] TIMBER. [Sidenote: Superiority of the timber on the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway.] The great lumber interest will have a larger and richer field on the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railroad than on any other through line in Washington Territory. On the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad the timber is abundant, but too small for the mill, except in a very few spots. The other roads show but little left close by, and the trees never had the size of those of Snoqualmie Valley. The West Coast road, which will be tributary to the Lake Shore Railroad, will pass through good forests; but, according to my information, the forests on the line of the Lake Shore road are the very best in Washington Territory.