The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1881-12-16
MINNESOTA INTELLIGENCE.

| tu IudIoudl VI uliuucSOJ6s
The shipment of youltry from LIE
Sueur amounts to about 90, 900 pounds
per year.
The State musical convention will
be held at Red Wing the first week
in January.
The receipts Of the st. Paul post
Office for the month Of November
amounted to S328,37l.79.
Enough cranberries were gathered
from several claims in Otter Tail
county, to more than pay for the
land.
The Winona & st. Peter company
have shipped twenty-five miles Of
snow fence, to be used near Sleepy
Eye.
Diphtheria has broken out in the
Poland settlements at West Little
Falls, Morrison county, and prevails
to quite an alarming extent.
Minnesota planted 10000 acres to
flax in 1880 and produced 307, 100
bushels of seed. In 1881, the area
was 80, acres, yield not reported.
In the Cox impeachment, the de-
Tense files the plea that drunkenness
and lewdneSs, not being indictable
Offenses, are neither crimes nor mis-
demeanOrs.
The delegate from Dakota in Con.
gress proposes to introduce mea-
sure providing that any citizen who
sinks an artesian well in such manner
as to obtain permanent flow of
water upon any of the unoccupied
public lands where there is no spring
or stream Of living water, shall be
entitled to $40 acres of land.
During the recent election for the
removal of the county seat of Big
Stone county, two members of the
canvassing board, who were favorable
to Milbank, were arrested upon some
trumped up charge just as they were
about to canvass the votes. The
rump board then canvassed the votes
at will and declared the failure of re-
moval of county seat by "a votes, and
counted in county officials favorable
W dig SlOilc.
The Lanesboro Journal. says that
on the 18th ult., Mr.. John Walden,
who resides northwest of LanesborO,
had Il valuable Norman three.year-
old colt, become entangled in a wire
fence and terribly cut up. Mr.. w.
had no hopes of saving the horse, but
as an act of humanity, he immediate.
ly came to town and procured DIR.
Pulver, who went and dressed the
bruises and cared for the animal, and
Mr.. w. informs us that the colt is
coming out all right and will be ready
for use in the course of a week.
Rice county's anti.horse thief as.
ISOLATION, organized in 1865, has
membership of 375. Only three
horses belonging to members have
been stolen since that time, and those
were all recovered in a short time.
The expense during the Is years since
its organization has only been 81 for
each member. When any member
of the association loses a horse by
theft 81 men are Immediately started
in pursuit, the horse found and re.
turned to the owner, and the thief
captured and dealt with according to
law.
The recent special session of the
legislature was an expensive luxury
to the taxpayers of the State. Be.
sides the issuing of new bonds to re.
place the old swindling ones, some.
thing over 81, 1000, 900, the regular ap-
preparations amounted to S254,75o,
and for bridges S23 900 more. Among
the larger items are 100000 for the
new capitol, $50. 900 for the insane
asylums, $1,000 for grading and fenc.
ing the normal school ut Winona,
SO, 900 for expenses of the session
including printing, $4,000 for i'm.
parchment of Judge Cox, and Sl5,-
4S4 for deficiencies in former apprO-
priatiOns. Gov. Pillsbury's admins
tratiOn may step down and out amid
"a blaze of glory and the huzzas of the
admiriDg bOnd.hOlders and their gang
of claquers, but it will be followed
by curses long and deep when the
yeomanry have to step up to the
county treasurer Office and settle the
bills.-Hastings Gazette.
The insurance companies of the
country are considerably exercised
over the great fires at Minneapolis
among her Touring mills. The Chica.
so Times interviewing several general
agents of companies located in that
city says: 1t is not surprising that
the insurance managers whose com.
panies are called again upon to pay
enormous losses at Minneapolis are,
as one of the most prominent of them
expressed it, overcome with disgust,
and satisfied that there is but little
real difference between the fire hazard
of q modern patent-flour factory or
fiouring-mill and a powder.mill." In
fact, he said his company had insured
a match factory for 10 years, and had
now received premium enough to pay
total loss and yet have some profit
left, but on fouring-mills he didn't
believe any insurance company, large
or small, had made cent of profit for
10 years past.
A large amount of threshing yet
remains to be done in this country,
and the test of the machine shows
that large part of the wheat has
been badly injured by the rains. This
damage. together with the great loss
caused by chinch bugs, makes the
yield in most cases very low. On
one farm in lakewood, where the
threshing was done last week, from
80 acres, there were only little over
200 bushels machine measure, and
when drawn to the warehouse from
eight to 20 pounds were taken of
each bushel in cleaning. This is but
one illustration of a very common
condition of things throughout the
county. On barely, corn, oats and
potatoes our farmers have, as a rule,
done well this year, but wheat has
not paid expenses on the majority of
the farms, and those who have no
other resource than wheat are In q
bad condition. Next spring will see
another exodus of this class of
farmers to the new lands of the
frontier, where they will, we suppose
repeat the same miserable experience.
Fortunately for the future of our
country large part of these farmers
have already left and the rest will
soon follow. Ten years ago exclu.
sive wheat farming was the rule,
straw.stacks were burned and manure
was considered q nuisance; to-day
mixed farming is the rule and our
farmers have learned that even on
Minnesota soil manure Is useful.
There are at least five times as many
cattle in the country as there were
10 wears aOo and thew ara Iar0aIv