of steamships to Japan and the Orient. The great transcontinental railroads meet the ships of the world in the commerce of the Pacific, being the shortest route between New York and the Asiatic harbors.
There are extensive flour mills here. It is the center of the lumber industries and leads in shipbuilding in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle is the base of supplies for the salmon and deep sea fisheries and is surrounded by a great number of valuable coal mines.
Some of the towns near here are very important, the principal ones being Issaquah, Black Diamond, Newcastle and Roslyn, east of the Cascade mountains. The largest lumber mills in the United states are at Port Blakely, which has an extensive foreign trade. At Port Gamble and Port Ludlow are immense saw milling plants. Near Port
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