Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1865-1872, 1867-01-11
LETTER FROM MINNESOTA.
[speeial COrrespOndencs Of DIE AmerIcan. J

ANoKA, MINI, Dec. 10, 1876.
Dear American, Your familiar face has
at last made its welcome appearance again
On my table, after many weeks absence.
And looking over your columns, it is diff
fcult to realize that you must travel six
hundred miles to make your weekly visits.
The account you give of men and things
in the region where most of my life has
been spent, is so natural and lifelike, /
seem to be again among the beautiful hills
Of White Water. But glance out of the
window over the broad Mississippi on one
side, or over the interminable prairie on
the other, soon recalls the fact that this is
Minnesota and not Indiana. Indiana is
good place-to move away from.
Bnt dear AMERICAN how is it that you
gather up no news by the way? Are you
interested in no place but Brookvillc?-
Has even Chicago no attractions for you
as you pass by2 Or do you take sleep
ing car, and como through with closed
eyes and earsY Or is it impossible to
make an impression upon you? Perhaps
you go upon the principle of minding your
own business, and letting other folks
alone. At any rate, it is charitable to as
sumo the best motive and this much must
be said, that you usually go direct to your
destination, and convey the precise infor-
nation with which you are intrusted.
You say, among other interesting items.
that "Billy" is now Professor Goodwin, OF
Bloomington, III. Well, | rejoice at his
promotion, and wish him abundant sue
cess. He is live man, aud he has the
happy faculty Of seeing usually the, bright
side. In writing, he does not trouble the
reader with tedious circumlocution, but
goes directly to the point For instance,
the miserable affectation of "your cores
pendent is replaced by the pronoun, first
person, singular, as it should be by every
one who is not afraid to stand responsible
for what he says, But have one piece of
advice, maybe two. for Brother Goodwin,
the Professor: LIST, As he lives in a land
where game abounds, he should not han
die gun until he has learned to shoot
I'd, The temptation may be strong, but
when he goes out in the country to his
Sunday appointments, he had better leave
his double barreled shotgun at home. 1t
was somewhere in that region that the
naughty natives fined His Honor, Sir Will
liam Russell, for shooting prairie chickens
on the Sabbath. A word in season.
A Minnesota winter, judging by the
portion Of the season that has already pass
ed, is rather a pleasant institution. 1t is
colder here than with you, no-doubt, and
yet more agreeable. On the last day of
November the Thermometer marked six
degrees below zero, and yet the ladies
were out calling variously over the town.
The Mississippi has been frozen over some
weeks, and yet the weather is not cold
enough to bring overcoats into requisition.
Building operations are not yet suspend
ed. About the 9Th of November large
frame building was begun near the Public
Square, and on the second Sabbath in De-
cember the Congregational Church occu
pied the upper story, commodious hall,
finished in good style, except that it had
but one coat Of plastering. The fact is,
the atmosphere in this country is so much
dryer than in Indiana that the same de-
gree Of cold is much easier to bear. With
1cIO, anu tue btlii, as IL
is most Of the time, it is not unpleasant to
be out of doors all day.
1t is the dryness of the atmosphere that
makes it SO healthy in this region. One
of your correspondents travelling this way
a year or two ago, ventured 10 suggest that
there was more oxygen in the air here
than further South And if dry air is
more wholesome than damp or moist air,
what is the advantage Of keeping water on
the stoves in school-rooms and Offices dur
ing winter Such an arrangement keeps
the air damp AID is therefore positively
pernicious. The dampness acts injurious
" upon the skin, and still moro so upon
the mucous membrane of the throat and
lungs, inducing debility and exposing to
violent colds. Throw away the cups and
crooks off your stoves; throw away your
stoves, too, if you eau, and use fireplace.
But if that be impracticable, let in little
air constantly here aud there about your
windows, have ventilation always going on,
and keep the air in the room as pure aud
dry as possible. ClvIs.