The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-11-13

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What Avon Has and What it Wants
The Soil u nd Country Thereahouts.
AVON, Nov. 10th, 1873.
EDITOR JoURNA1.-Most of the heavy
machinery Of the stavs factory was placed
in position several days ago, and work on
the several buildings is progressing favor
ably. The engine aud boiler building is
and the machine shop is well |
under way. In addition to these buildings |
there ore to be several store houses. Some, I
idea Of the extent Of; these, buildings may
be formed from The fact that one hundred
and fifty thousand feet Of lumber will be
required to construct them. The master
mechanic who has charge Of the construo-
ton Of these buildings is MIR. John Wins
lade, Of your city. The Company, Messrs.
Ball, Bryan & Dickinson, intend to employ
from, $50, 900 to $4,000 in the man
ufaeture Of slaves. Besides the stave fac
tory, the company will run saw mill and
will be prepared to fill orders for lumber
for the convenience Of the many settlers
hereabouts. In view of the exorbitant
prices charged for lumber at some Of the
mills in this county, the people Of Avon
and vicinity ought to congratulate them
selves that an opposition mill has been
started at their door. Besides supplying
lumber and furnishing market for timber
which has heretofore been almost worthless,
the mills will furnish constant employment
to large number o men and teams.
Messrs. Ball and Dickinson are old resi-
dents of St. Cloud, and are known as hard
working, honest and square.dealing men,
while Mr.. Bryan has been resident Of the
State for several years and bears good
reputation. He is at present connected
with a stave factory on the L. S. & M. R.
R.; and will probably be the business man
ager of the factory here:
Avon, as many of your readers probably
know, is located in Stearns county, fifteen
miles from St. Cloud, and on the line of
the St. Vincent Branch Railroad. The
town is much smaller than some of the
cities Of our State, but this may be attribut-
ed to the fact that it is but two years old,
and unlike some cities its growth has de.
pended upon legitimate means. There is
a post Office, school house, one or two stores,
q saloon and restaurant, and several pri-
.vate dwelling houses, with fair prospect
Of, several more being added this winter.
The town is in need of a grist mill and a
hotel, and I might say church, but the
first thing to do in new country is to get
to living we'll and comfortably, and then
the other blessings will follow as matter.
Of course. As to the Touring mill, all that is
lacking is an enterprising man 1ith few
thousand dollars. The water power is here,
and is located at the head of the lake, less
than Z mile from the town site:: The
stream is sufficiently large to drive any
Touring mill in existence and could be
damBd at q small cost. =
The country about Avon, for a number
Of miles in either direction, at the time the
first settlers came in, was covered with
dense forest Of timber, such as oak, elm,
ash, maple, birch, ironwood, ox-elder,
Eastwood, etc., but now, although much Of
the timber still remains, extensive clear
ings have been made and many farms
opened up. And the persons who own
these farms are in every instance, so far
as have learned, well pleased with the
soil, and claim as heavy yields of wheat,
corn, oats and vegetables as are grown in
any portion of the State. Many persons
in quest Of new homes. object to timber
farms as involving great amount of labor
in clearing, but the logic of farmers here
abouts is good. They claim that fuel and
fencing and building timber are conven-
lent, and fully make up for the labor of
clearing and they also claim that the soil
Of timber land yields heavier crops and is
more enduring, ewing to the presence of
much vegetable matter which serves the
purpose of the very best manures.
Much Of the land in this vicinity is yet
unoccupied: Some belongs to the Govern
ment, while a great portion is in the hands
of the Railroad Company and spectators.
The usual price charged by the railroad
for these lands is SIS per acre, while spec
ulators vary in prices according to circum-
stances of location. At any rate, persons
with money will find little difficulty in
purchasing good land here on easy terms.
In conclusion, must say that believe
the Railroad Company have been negleotful
of their own interests in not having con-
structed side track at Avon for the con-
venience of many shippers. A good deal
Of freight is handled here, and in a very
short time this will be an important freight
ing point. ;: "... ,s:1. "ORVILLE.