SPOKANE, situated on the Spokane river, is the county seat of Spokane county, and is the metropolis of eastern Washington, having a [Page 83] population estimated at 120,000. Spokane is the center of a great wheat-raising section and is the principal mining and commercial center between the Cascades and the Rocky mountains. A conservative estimate of the total value of manufactured products for 1908 is $17,000,000. There are over 12,000 wage-earners, receiving over $10,000,000 annually. The principal industrial establishments are lumber mills, flour mills, machine shops, agricultural machinery, brick plants, iron works, foundries, pottery, cereal food, furniture, etc. The industrial prosperity of the city is due largely to the mines in the vicinity, the great agricultural resources of the surrounding country, and to the extensive water power which offers special inducements to manufacturers. The Spokane river here has a total fall of 132 feet, which furnishes a minimum of 33,000 horse-power, of which 15,000 horse-power is developed. There are four national banks, with a combined capital of $3,425,000. The city owns its own water works, from which an annual revenue of more than $325,000 is derived. The educational facilities are excellent. There are twenty-three public school buildings, constructed of brick and stone, and costing $1,450,000. There are three daily newspapers, having a combined circulation of 45,000. Here is located the U. S. circuit court; the headquarters of the U. S. district court, eastern division; U. S. military post (Fort Wright); the government headquarters of the postal inspector service, known as the Spokane division, which includes the states of Washington, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and the territory of Alaska, and a U. S. land office. Postoffice receipts for 1908 amounted to $360,504. CHENEY, 10 miles southwest of Spokane, is a town of 1,500 people. Here is located one of the state normal schools, having about 400 students. MEDICAL LAKE is an important town, having the Eastern Washington Hospital for the Insane near-by, It is a noted health resort. ROCKFORD is an important agricultural town of 1,200 people. HILLYARD is an important place of 1,500 people, having the car shops of the Great Northern railway as its chief business. STEVENS COUNTY Stevens county, in the extreme northeastern corner of the state, has an area of 4,500 square miles and a population of about 24,000. It is a county of great and diverse resources, is splendidly watered with large rivers, the Columbia bounding it on the west, and the Spokane on part of its southern line. Three ranges of low mountains extend across the county nearly north and south. Between these the Colville river and the Pend d'Oreille flow generally northerly through grand and beautiful valleys. [Page 84] RESOURCES AND PRODUCTIONS.