The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1883-09-29
THE new NORTH WEST.
BISMARCK, D. T. Sept. 2l, 1888.

Special Correspondence.
have just met tdisgusted English
man, all the way from "Lunnon" origin
ally, but more recently from Fargo,
whose population be pronounces the
"bloodiest lot of blawsted thieves out
side the penitentiary." And we'll might
our English friend proclaim his disgust
at Fargo and all Fargoans, for he had
put up ut the wrong hotel and been
robbed so thoroughly that he hadn't np-
parel enough left to wad gun. But
Fargo is one of the smartest towns OF all
these communities of smart people, and
she proposes to prosper in spite of the
bitter opposition that she constantly. en-
counters, not only from her sister Moor
head over the way, but from the outly-
ing towns for miles and miles away, which
are green with envy over the successful
career of this dominant city of the Red
River Valley. Containing now popu.
lation of more than $4,000, Fargo is
simply in its swaddling clothes, so far as
the trade Of the region is concerned, for
it is surely destined to be one Of the
largest and most important commercial
points in the whole Northwestern couu-
try. Here is the absolute basin Of this
vast and fertile valley of the Red River,
whose products are to contribute no
small share of the worlds stock of pro.
vender, Nor is the wonderful fertility
Of this valley any new discovery, since
the Hudson Bay company, in cnnjunc-
ton with the English and Canadian fur
companies, planted their colonies and
reaped their rich harvests from this very
soil almost century ago. The rise pro.
gress and downfall of these colonies
forms terrible chapter of the cupidity
that plunged these companies into war
with each other; and the annals of the
Western border are black with the saw
agery that was invoked upon all sides to
make the warfare more sapguinary and
the victory more bloody. Here extend
ing from south to north for 250 miles,
and from west to east from 40 to SO miles
is one vast field for the production OF
wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat. rye, po
tatoes, and garden vegetables. entirely
unexcelled by any equal area of country
in all the wide world. And these broad
acres ere all to be utilized at once; and
they are to pay handsomely for their
cultivation, for there are FIVE and fifty
millions of our own mouths TO feed, to
sly nothing of the moiety that must 10
to the closely -peopled countries of the
old world.
Moorhead, to which reference has been
made, is on the Minnesota side of the
Red River, and has population in point
of numbers to suit the convenience of its
most reputable liars. Commercially it
is not wanting in any of the attributes of
smartness that characterizes its sister
city of Fargo, and as distributing point
has exactly tire same qualities. The
town has God-forsaken look, its streets
being solely devoted 10 the nurturing of
a sea of black muck that is too thick for
navigable purposes and to thin for Pc
1estrian or vehicular purposes. The
footprints Of the inevitable Yankee, how.
ever, are seen on every band, for the
school house and the church and the
newspaper stand out in conspicuous.
prominence in connection with the ma .ia
for real estate speculation. Like Fargo
1t is no place for drones, and the man
who expects to sit down with his hands
in his own pockets instead of other peo-
ple's, will be very likely to be sat down
upon and sent home.
In my travels thus far through Dakota
l have been able to gather up some inn.
pressions of the country and its people
that would seem to demand brief con-
ment. Aud first, the ldboring man, as
such, is at a decided discount everywhere.
His living is high, while his wages sle
low. This comes of The terrific influx Of
laborers at a time when there was great
demand for q single class, such as car
. penters, bricklayers, etc. Hundreds at
the East left profitable employme mt be
hind them TO come here. and yearn to
get back again, without being able TO pay
their way. The laborer or skilled artisan
who cannot here command double the
wages that he did at the L ,st, must alb
solutely deprive himself of the comforts
and the necessities of life, for, after he
has paid his $40 to Sl2 per week for Or
dinary board, and sustaius his extraor.
dinary weekly expenses outside OF that,
he discovers the impossibiliiy of making
both ends meet. or clerks aud book
keepers there is and always has been Il
surfeit. No more are wauted,as they are
already here in sufficient numbers to
grow apace with the country and it,
business.
There il, however,a greHt, and might
say prayerful demand for a class Of fe-
male help that seems to fight shy of all
newly settled communities. The girl or
woman who is capable of doing house
work in large or small families can COM
mand her own price. The Norwegian
emigrant, with no conception of the
English language and no adaptability to
American customs or cookery, is the
housewives exasperauon: but she is the
only available material tor the perform
alce of the household duties here, and
she is paid higher rate of wages per
week than the man who bores mountains
and spans the valleys for the advent of
the railroad. Good, worthy, reliable
girls who can command the vernacular
can also command fabulous wages. 49,
In my last letter briefly alluded to
the healthfulness of this portion of the
country and its advantages to those who