Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1879-08-16
NORTHERN TRIBUNE.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1879.
THE MARQUETTE AND rsACKINAC
RAILROAD.

| NAILtOAD.
Its Importance as a Connecting Link
From the New Northwest TO the Sea
board ~ - - -lCO = -
A correspondent of the Detroit Post
and Tribune writing, from r st. Paul
Minnesota, endeavOrs to awaken the
citizens of Detroit to the importance OF
constructing the Marquette and Macsi-
nae road by showing the immense traffic
that would naturally be tributary to the
route to the east of which the road would
be part. He states that it is not posi-
bletO set limits to the manufacturing
developments of which Minneapolis,
with itsmagnifcent water power, is ca
pable. 1tsvast mills, now in operation,
can produce 6,OO07barrels Of -four. daily,
and by next season will increase these
figures to 10000. There is every prospect
of the indefinite multiplication of its
great industries and ditsdelightfuI homes.
The wheat harvest Of Minnesota now in
progress promises a yield of 100000
bushels, and each season sees large ad-
vances in the area, the methods, and the
pr9ductiveness of the states agricul-
ture. yev~ 49,
Dakota is being rapidly settled and
this season is yielding millions Ofbushels
of grain. To o'show how rapidly it is be-
ing settled he says that from August 81,
1878, to July 1873, the land department.
sales were 100000 acres, while the home
stead, pre-emption and tree culture en-
tries at Fargo in May, June and July
last aggregated Sos, 200 acres. These last
figures represented the claims of 1926
individuals, and indicate an immigra-
tion into Northern Dakota in that sim
gle quarter of from 5000 to 7,0OOpeOple.
North and northwest of Dakota is the
rapidly developing section of British
America, the newly. organized, province
of Manitoba. - r. - ALA6 - "A
The sales of land to settlers i'm Mani
tOba amounted to $4,000 acres in. 1876,
to 100000 acres in 1S77,-to 100000 acres
in 1878, and will be even greater in 1879.
This current of population comes large
ly from the older Canadian provinces,
to considerable extent from Europe
COLONIES of Russian MennOnites and of
Icelanders are frequently and somewhat
also from the United States. The Ameri-
can railway system has already reached
and connected it with Duluth
and st. Paul. The Canadian pacific is
being rapidly pushed into Manitoba
from Thunder bay. Large boats are
plying from Winnepeg ON the Red to
Fargo and up the Assiniboine for 800 of
the 600 miles of its lengh. Making tri-
butary to the system Of railroads vast
extent of territory.
The letter is quite lengthy and goes
fully into the details and closes with
the following, showing the interest De-
trOit has in the early completion of this
great through rOute:g 92OH L !
"DOes not this situation here add an
other to the many powerful reasons why
Detroit should earnestly concern itself
with the prompt construction of the
and Maciknac railroad? 81
That will not merely connect the
Lower Peninsula roads with the great
mineral districts of Marquette and Kee-
wenaw Point, twill not merely restore
to Detroit its fair share of the the trade
Of thatp0rtiOn' of it state, but it will be
a long step toward establishing prOmis-
ing commercial relations with settled
and will strengthen busi-
ness attachments already formed with a
region whose marvellous agricultural de-
still seems to to only i'm its fam
cy. have visited no important town on
the Northern Pacific where Detroit wares
--StOveS, tObaccOS, seeds, etc.-Were not
in all stores. They were uni
formly known, liked and largely sold.
More direct railway communication
will greatly increase the value and eX-
tent of this trade; that much is certain.
But given to Detroit position on one of
the main through lines connecting the
Atlantic ports with the enormous grain
fields Of Minnesota, Dakota and the Win
nepeg basin, its enterprising merchants
could easily reap very positive, CONNER
cial advantages from such a situation.
Will they not promptly place themselves
In an attitude to seize all the chances
such an opportunity may afford? Min
nesOta is stretching out her hands east
ward for release from burdensome rail-
way affiliations. The Northern Pacific
territory is the present marvel of from
tier development. Will not Detroit do
her share towards linking herself with
the present. and coming greatness of the
New Northwest? = = -, r. ~ '- .Hof ~ 4