Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-12-18
IN ANDABOUTST.PAUL
Views of an Illinois Journalist Who is
Doing" the Northwest,
4 & md Jool-So,,-,lla \

Doing" the Northwest.
Correspondence Jacksonville, (Iu.) Daily
Journal.
ST.. PAUL, Dec. 9.-Having revisited and
reviewed Minneapolis, with its great water
power, its broad avenues, and It's dash and
syndicate systems, I took my leave on the
9Th, and in half an hour after leaving its
famed Nicollet House, was seated at the
supper table of the Merchants Hotel in ST.
Paul, even more noted for its splendid &C
commodations. Here will remain until
Monday morning, when will cake the
Chicago, Milwaukee & st.
Paul road, Flying Dutchman,"
route following down the west banks of
the Mississippi river and crossing at Rock
Island to make connection with the c., B.
& @. for Chaplin. My second visit to Min
neapolis confirmed my former statement,
that the magical city propelled by the
falls of St.Anthonypossesses all the charac-
teristics of Chicago. It has been mainly
built up by Eastern capitalists, who now hold
mortgages upon nearly all of its improve
ments and enterprises. On the other
hand, st. Paul is compactly built up on
the most beautiful natural site, and its
narrow and well-paved streets, upon either
side of which tall and stately
buildings are reared, we'll entities
it to be recognized as the i'm
perial commercial city of the new North
west. Unlike Minneapolis, its improve
ments and enterprises are the work of its
own residents. 1t owes but little to for
eign capitalists and is unmortgaged. Its
growth, like that of st. Louis, is. steady
and reliable. 1t is in fact proud monu-
ment of Western enterprise. 1t is, howev-.
er, highly gratifying to know that the en-
oils and St. Paul are being exerted to the
purpose of bringing the cities to closer
union by uniting in the various projects
to occupy the territory between the two.
Indeed, it seems to be the ambition OF
both cities to make their population out
number that of Chicago in the next de-
cade. To even the visitor it appears quite
plain, in view of the present rapid devel-
opnent of the vast country beyond, that
these communities count not without their
most.
Before leaving Minneapolis the mercury
ran down to "a degrees below zero, while
i; registered 40 below at Fargo and 60 be-
low at Winnipeg. This change came with
in twenty -four hours after I left Fargo,
and afforded me much comfort to feel
that had taken the advice of friends not
to visit Winnipeg and Duluth, as 1 had
purposed to do. 1t was a lucky escape for
me, and on arriving here found that the
real snow blockade lay in the direction of
Sioux Falls and Yankton, SO that 1 have
been compelled to desist from making a
visit to southern Dakota. The older set
tiers here tell me that northern Iowa and
Nebraska and southern Minnesota and
Dakota are the recognized regions of the
snow belt, where the winds from the south
west have full sweep from Arizona
across the plains to the Mississippi valley.
This, they say, accounts for the frequency
of cyclones in the summer season. And.
now that the land everywhere throughout
the Northwest is covered with snow, rang
ing from six inches on the British line to
two and three feet in the snow belt men
toned, it is we'll enough that I should
bring my journeyings to an end. This 1
do with the assui ance of cid settlers in the
regions visited that there is but little or
no variation in the soils and lay of the
land in the sections visited and those not
visited. The level, rich country through
out the New Northwest is oceanic in its
proportions. It is so vast and treeless that
even the engineers upon the earlier sur
veyed railways declared that it was abso-
lutely valueless as desert waste, and now
acknowledge that they were not' so far
sighted as the projectors of those en-
terprises who ''builded wiser than they
knew" Now it amounts to great scram-
BILE by four or five great railway interests
to see which can gobble the most territory
to be made tributary to their systems.
| Already the majority of the towns in this
! two or three years, rival those in our sec
tioI of ten to twenty years, in both vice
and number.
On Saturday morning, while standing
with my back toward the grand entrance
to the capacious lobby of the Merchants
hotel, Mr.. George N. LOOMS, the present
editor Of The Duluth Tribune, just arrived
from his polar home, recognized me afar
off. and seemed to be the gladdest man l
had encountered in all nay travels.
udu Ine extreme pleasure also OF FORM
ing the acquaintance of Judge Eugene
Underwood, who is resident of both
Louisville, KY, and this city, and divides
his time between the two. Judge U. is a
nephew of the late DR.. w. D. r. Trotter, of
Jacksonville, and talks of soon making
our city visit. found him the persona
fication of the Kentucky gentleman, and
one who prides himself in having an
equal interest in both North and South.
He is the owner of valuable property To-
Gated half way between the twin cities.''
In his characteristics, though somewhat
more robust, he reminds one of Prof. j.
B. Turner. and is kindred spirit upon the
subject of our great national water ways
Gen. R. w. Johnson is another very
genial Kentuckian whose acquaintance 1
formed here. He did valiant service on
the federal side during the war of the re-
bellion. Having sacrificed his slave
property in the South, when the war was
ended he removed to St. Paul, and has
become thoroughly identified with the
city's interests. Both Gen. johnson and
Judge Underwood possess extensive &C
quaintance with my own relatives in
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