The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-01-31
NEW SERIES-NO. 426

NEW SERIES-NO. 426
mighty commercial system. Union rests Sc
curely on this immovable base"
Certainly, certainly, said one person,
which did not think it was proper, and
wont mention bis name" as Old Abe had
it, there Amt nobody hurt ="
Following this We was told, Oh page 9 to
IL inclusive, how they went to get water
and trade, &c, into these basins ~
"The Mississippi river, originating in the
lacastrine steppes of Northern Minnesota,
gives 900 miles of it's waters to
its mother State.' "Such are the
Titanic progeny of Minnesota"
The schoolmaster said this meant the
German children that was born here and
he continued to read
"These three great channels of internal
commerce, conuerying from the antipodal er-
treses Of the great basin, and bringing together all
its infinite gradatiOn of climate and production in
one integral and simple geographical and social
mass" &c.
These lines of commercial movements accord
| with the tri-lateraI outlines of the great basin,
the same drohgraphical features that determine
the physical structure of the continent, fixing
also the channels Of its intercourse.
More about basins
The converging valleys of the Winnie
peg system, though subordinate to the great
Hudson's Ray slope, form distinct hydro
graphical basin, abruptly insulated from the CIR
cumyacert expanse by its geological structure, its
depression beow the general level, its climate and
its jJaora."
"The natural boundaries of the Whine.
peg basin thus coincide with girdle Of gram
tic or cretacious elevations, which mark bold
transitions on every side, from the rich cal
careous SOIL which is the characteristic asso-
citation of the limestone, to the regions of
barren sands or clay, which support the veg
citation of the Arctic highlands or the Mis-
souri, steppes."
"This fertile plain is in every respect the
continuation and complement, in the upper
belt of the temperate zone, of the sir an substra-
tum and surface forms of the Mississippi val
ley"
This broad depression, ranging through
thirty degrees of latitude, exercises re-
markable influence upon the distribution of
the interior temperatures of the continent, part
ly as the effect of inferior elevation, and
partly in consequence of the sOftening and
fytiLzing currents of air which are received in
to it, at its southern extremity from the
Gulf of Mexico, and at its Northern, through
the gorges of the Rocky Mountains from
the Pacific"
An old neighbor, which is modest man,
and don't want his name set out in print,
and might as we'll be called Shovels, for
short, observed, that he had always found
manure much more improving to the soil
in this country than any winds he knew of,
though that might be the way they tsrtI.
ICED lands in Nova Scotia.
Following on after this, we had long
spell of reading about Chronological
Description" Thermometrical Statistics"
Statistics of Contour" Photographed
Outline" Comparative Climatology,"
agricultural Physics" " Coniferous Re-
gions,"" Decisive elimination of Wheat
Growth" " Zone of Maximum Wheat Pro-
duction,"" Comparative Fluctuations of the
Corn Crop" and, among other things, was
read:
cit is important to observe, in estimat-
ing the growth of population, that as the
absolute population increases, the oaual, or
orihmaical, is more, and the relatiue, or geo.
mdrical, increase, less.
But while this was going on, the Squire
and neighbor Shovels fell fast asleep, and in
turn snored and sawed away, with the noise
of an old fashioned whip~saw. So the
reading had to stop but it was just as well,
for, by this time, we had searched out and
found that Mr.. Wbeelock had used up more
words than they was in our little diction-
airy, and we couldn't 60 no further. Shovels,
which is rather testy old fellow, on being
walked up, said that he had rather dig an
acre of potatoes, than to dig out the mean.
ing OF half of the outlandish words in that
book but Isecretly resolved to myself to
send Tor Webster's big dictionary, and,
think, that, IN the course of month or
two, that shall be able to clean out the
substance of that volume pretty vel. )
Before We adjourned the meeting, that
night, our Parson, who had not said word
before, offered some resolutions After
increasing for while, they went on, as
near as Can recOllect, about as follows,
to wit: @t~- +
"Eesoived, That it is the sense of this meet
ing, that the Legislature give Mr.. Wheelock
| two thousand dollars to enable him to translate
| his MINNESOTA, ITS PLACE AMONG THE STATES"
into the English language. ri hf ea9
"Resolued, That stalking on pathological
stills and getting thousand dollars year for
| 1T, is big thing J" d
Excuse my short letter, which will
write again soon.
While am, honored sir,
Your humble, obedient servant,
ZEBULON SAWYER.