St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1861-03-28

N 3 :
alton, the palm Of a'pay. holding the flagstaff
as westward tho star Of empire tvkes her way.
stearns, County is about tho geographical CEN
tre Of the State; and St. Cloud is tho county
seat. But few settle dement's lie north Of this
point and 10 it is called Northern Minnesota.
have spent the last three Winters there; and
lit has been amusing as we'll 81 provoking to
read, in the New York Ledger, and other cas-
torn prints that the snow was twenty feet deep
in Minnesota-that whole villages were buried
and people frozen in their houses, where fire
appeared to have no effect in dispeli,ng the
cold, while there has not been moro than ten
inches Of snow at any timo. BY such bug bear
stories, coupled with tho financial ruin into
which the State was plunged by spectators,
: thousands Of emigrants, whose proper places
lie in Minnesota, have been led to seek homes
in uncongenisl aad unhealthy climates. Ide-
spair Of giving anything like correct idea Of
Minnesota winter because it is q source of
never ceasing wonder to myself. We are much
less troubled by untimely frosts than we used
to be in Pennsylvania. Tho juno frosts of
last year did not reach Minnesota; and we
had none in tho autumn until late in Septem-
Der, after the corn was fully ripe. In Novem-
Der, the river has been running with floating
ice, every year since the white man went
there to live; and by tho middle of December
there is bridge Of ice two or two and half
feet thick. This is a winter arrangement !;
and may be depended upon. Light SHOWS fall
and melt in tho sunshine early in November,
until in December, when it generally amounts
to sleighing; and continues until March,
Sometimes We have three days Of excessively
cold weather; and once, in the three years
have spent there, spirit thermometers indica-
ted 450 below zero. It remained so for per-
haps half an hour and began to rise, but for
the entire three days and nights, tho mercury
is sometimes never above 100 below. The
way We know that it is so is by looking at the
thermometer. 1t is no use to ask the children,
for they will 60 out to romp; the cattle know
nothing about it, and step around as if it were
nothing unusual; the Shanghai hens will come
out, and stand in the sunshine, give you their
egg every day and 60 barefoot; and the
young folks never think of foregoing sleigh
ride unless it blows, when people generally
stay indoors unless they have some business
out, and they are almost certain to have bu-
siness, so that our coolest weather is often the
busiest time. The atmosphere is dry and
pure, and appears to contain some peculiarly
vitalizing property which sets the cold at def
ance. Men who are drunk and lie out, or are
caught insuf6ciently dressed at distance
from shelter, are apt to have their feet or
hands or ears or noses frozen; but he is
thought veIy stupid who does not Immediately
rub the frozen parts with snow until the pest
8 extracted when it is all right. In damper and
more southern climates man who is exposed
over night until he is frozen is soon to be dead;
but in Minnesota the vital organs resist the
cold, and keep death at bay for length Of
time that is perfectly wonderful Cattle live
there all winter without shelter, and if they
have plenty Of the native wild hay, they will
be fat and sleek in the spring. I have seen
deer killed at midwinter with layer Of tallow
lying all over the outside Of the saddle from
half an inch to one and half deep between
the flesh and skin. There arc no cold, winter
rains. No mud or slush, or damp to chill and
weary man or beast. So that to all animal Or
CARNATIONS our winters arc full Of life vigor.
While nature has adorned it SO, that food
grown there is peculiarly nutritious to sup
port the rapid combustion necessary to keep
up animal heat.
The pasturage of the prairies and wild hay
is 50 far superior to the clover and timothy of
Eastern and Western States, that cattle killed
off the prairie, without having had any care or
feeding, make beef superior to any Stalled I
ever ate in Pennsylvania or Kentucky. Beef
and yenison is such clear, bright red, as I
never saw in any other place; and when cut
in:o steaks, tho rich juice runs so readily that
it is almost impossible to prevent waste. The
experiment has been fully tried Of bringing
cattle from Red River and turning them in with
others from Illinois and Iowa. When the
butcher kills them, he viii tell every animal
that came from the north, by the superior heal
thy state of the liver. So with the human an
imal nobody is ever bilious there-nobody
has the liver complaint or the blues, and the
horrors ore out of the question. The worst
case of fever and ague brought up from Illinois
is cured within year
| But the winters. When the three cold days
ore over the Mercury wakes up and walks up