Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1869-04-30
OUR MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.


ing mills and saw mills no branch of me
chanical industry is carried on here by
machinery to any great extent, though
we furnish a fruitful market for all kinds
of goods and wares. The entire reve
nues of our two great staples, wheat and
lumber, is thrown into the pocket of the
Eastern manufacturer. and the country is
impoverished to supply itself with arti-
cles that can as cheaply be made at home.
This evil can only be remeded by build
ing up our bone manufacturing interests
aud supplying our own market with
home made products.
What we are most in want of at pres
ent seems to be an establishment for the
manufacture of all kinds of agricultural
implements. Our farmers are prodigal
in the use Of all the modern inventions
that are in any way saving of manual
labor. and thousands of dollars go out of
this section of the Northwest for various
kinds of fam machinery which could
just as well be made at home. Were
such an establishment in operation here,
its benefit to tho country around would
be incalculable, and its owners could not
fail to reap a profitable harvest in this
new and untried field.
For the location of an enterprise of
this kind we do not believe there is a
point in Wisconsin, from La Crosse to
Lake Superior, possessing more natural
advantages than Prescott. Situate on
the Mississippi at its junction with the
st. CToix, with one Of the finest natural
landings on the river, its opportunities
for water transportation are unrivalled.
Que prospects were never brighter for a
railroad. The influence of the various
railroad combinations seems to direct
the Tomah rosd this way, and that it
will finally come here we have not the
least doubt. This will give US direct rail
road communication with the East, while
the Hastings and Dakota road will give
us easy access to the center of the rich
est portion of Minnesota. With such
superior facilities it can be easily seen
how cheaply the material necessary to
supply the most extensive foundry, ma
chine shop and mandatory can be fur
nished. The best of building stene can
be obtained from quarries not mile from
the city. Coal and iron will come up
the Mississippi by the cheapest transpor
;ation. The pinerics of st. Croix are in
close proximity, to contribute all that
may be required of their treasures
And last, though not least, the extensive
forests in the eastern portion of this
county will furnish an inexhaustible sup
ply of all kinds of timber, oak, ash, elm,
hickory, maple, butternut, Eastwood, ETC.,
which can be available at a trifing cost.
These are the natural inducements which
we can hold out for an enterprise of this
kind, and we doubt if their superior can
be found at any one point 10 the whole
Northwest. Besides all this the demand
for agricultural machinery of all kinds
in the St. C-oix Valley is large, and con-
stantly increasing as the country becomes.
developed. 1t is now sufficient to en-
sure home market large enough TO give
any manufacturing firm a good trade at
the start. No one will for moment
question this when he sees the hundreds
ofreapers, ,hreshing machines, seed drills,
plows, harrows, etc., that are poured into
Pierce, ST. Croix, Polk, and adjoining
counties every year. A machine shop
for doing a general repairing business
only. would be we'll sustained and prove
profitable to ITS proprietor.
When it is known there is nothing of
this kind in the State, from Prescott to
Lake Superior, it will be more readily un-
derstood that we are net writing for eff
feet, but mean just what we say. There
is machine shop at Hastings, MINI,
but its trade would not in any way inter
fere with the business of a similar estab-
lishment here. 1t would take the Min
nesoia custom, ours would control the
trade this side of the river.
We do not believe there is better
field than this for wide awake, entef-
prising mechanic. to,'build up a prosper
GUS business. He has clear track in
the richest portion of the Northwest-a
country that is developing with astonish-
ing rapidity, and is destined to become
second to none in wealth and population.
If such business cannot succeed here it
cannot anywhere. Who will be the first
to come forward and give it atrial 7
wisconsin Editors and p ublishers' As
ISOLATION.
The twelfth annual session of the