quality; occupying the position of actual and operating terminus of a great transcontinental railroad, which renders tributary to it a vast empire producing cereals, stock, fruit, hops and other agricultural products in abundance, and is the outlet for a dozen of the richest mining districts in the west; and being already the largest shipping port on the greatest inland harbor on the Pacific coast, its future as a manufacturing city is assured beyond all question. [Illustration: FARRELL & DARMER, ARCHITECTS TACOMA.] MOUNT TACOMA, THE CASCADE MONARCH. Rearing its great mass of snow and ice far above the surrounding mountains, Mt. Tacoma is the most commanding object in every Puget sound landscape, and is never seen to better advantage than from the streets of Tacoma. Its height is fourteen thousand four hundred and forty-four feet, exceeding that of any other of the numerous snow peaks of the Cascades, and in beauty of form and location it stands pre-eminent the monarch of the mountains. Captain George Vancouver, the discoverer and original explorer of Puget sound, in May, 1792, named this mountain “Rainier,” in honor of Rear Admiral Rainier, of the English navy, but the people of Puget sound, who can see no reason why the original and characteristic names given such objects by the aborigines should be changed, have discarded that title and restored the Indian name “Tacoma.” It is a beautiful name and most appropriate, meaning “near to heaven.” Ascents of the mountain are very frequently made by tourists, arrangements for which can be made in Tacoma. The view from its summit is grand beyond description, and the wild and rugged nature of its glaciers, gorges, canyons and rocky precipices give the mountain climber all the excitement he can reasonably desire. Mountain sheep and goats are hunted amid its glaciers by the venturesome sportsman, and the forests of the surrounding mountains are full of game that will try the nerve and skill of the most experienced hunter, no matter from what quarter of the globe he may come. [Illustration: MT. TACOMA, WASHINGTON TERRITORY. HEIGHT 14440 FEET.] REDUCTION OF ORES OF THE NORTHWEST.