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just filed with Gov. McBride. shows an increase in the production of butter in this state of 2,000,000 pounds during the past two years, and of 100,000 pounds of cheese during the same time.

Probably the most valuable cargo ever sent from a Puget Sound port to the Orient went on the Nippon Yusen Kaisha's steamship Iyo, which sailed from Seattle, Oct. 21, for Japan and China. It consisted of American products valued at more than $800,000. Of this amount the cotton shipment was valued at $400,000.

The Moses Lake Irrigation Company has been incorporated. The principal office is in North Yakima. David Longmire is president; C. G. Wands, vice-president; Edward Treat, secretary. The object is to take the water from Moses lake (Douglas county, Washington), for the purposes of irrigation. The company proposes to cover thirty or forty sections.

Seattle did $16,713,420 worth of business with Nome during the season of 1902. The Nome traffic for the year is at an end. Six vessels are returning. Definite data, however, as to the number of passengers and the amount of freight carried by them is at hand.

Idaho—

State Mining Inspector Martin Jacobs estimates the mineral production in Idaho for 1902 at $10,924,371.83--gold, $2,467,233.21; silver, $5,421,583.62; lead. $3,035,655.

General Manager P. P. Shelby, of the Pocatello & Idaho Northern, declares that construction on the proposed railroad to the north will be commenced in the spring and pushed to an early completion. This line will tap one of the richest sections of Idaho, traversing the copper region of the Seven Devils country and the farming district of the Salmon river valley.

The Idaho Sugar Company has been formed, with a capital of $1,000,000. The company will erect a mammoth beet sugar factory near Blackfoot. Five thousand acres already have been contracted for the cultivation of beets.

Mr. Martin L. Jacobs, state mining inspector, is authority for the statement that "the mining industry in Idaho is now in a better condition than ever before. At the present time there is more capital ready for mining investment in Idaho than in past years. All portions of the state are enjoying activity in this industry. In the silver districts of the southern parts of the state, while the recent slump in silver has reduced the margin of profit considerably, yet I know of no instances of any mines closing down on this account. If the market suffers a much further decline it may necessitate the shutting down of some silver mines in Custer and Blaine counties. The Coeur d'Alenes are. by far the largest producers in the state, but Owyhee county, Custer county and Blaine county have many mines that are active producers."

The comparative cost of running the drills of a mine by steam, compressed air or electricity will soon be a matter of record. The management of the Hecla has installed an electric drill on the 300-foot level. A record of the time spent in drilling, the number of holes, and their depth, the number of cars of ore taken out, etc., will be kept, to be compared with records of compressed air and steam. This test is an important one, as the Washington Water Power Company, of Spokane, is running an electric power line into the Coeur d*Alenes to supply power to all the mines of this district.

Montana—

Of all the industries now lying dormant in Montana, probably the one that offers the greatest possibilities of success is that of dairying. This business, which has been so highly developed and is so great a source of wealth production in other states, has been almost wholly neglected in what is undoubtedly one of the most favorable localities in the United States for its successful prosecution. There are not one half dozen creameries in operation in the whole state, and the capacity of these is very limited. Two that were in successful operation in Missoula county have been recently destroyed by fire and have not been rebuilt.

British Columbia—

The new railway and traffic bridge being erected across the Fraser at New Westminster is progressing rapidly and it is expected that this important highway will be opened for traffic before the end of the present year. The bridge, when completed, will be the largest in the Pacific Northwest, and it is being erected by the government of British Columbia at a cost of over half a million dollars. Already six railways and one electric tram line have applied for railway rights over it.

A large new hotel is about to be erected in New Westminster. It will be a four-story structure, and when completed will be the most modern hostelry in the city.

British Columbia has shipped this year 50,000,000 feet of lumber to all parts of the world, the province benefitting to the extent of $1,000,000. The shingle business continues to be very active; new mills are con-