The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-09-24
THE NEW NORTHWEST.
snecial Correspondence


THE NEW NORTHWEST.
Special Correspondence.
BISMARCK, D. T., Sept. 90. 1883
1 have Just meta disguised Englishman
all the way from 'Lonnon' originally, hut
more recently from Fargo, whose popula'
ton he prenounces 1.-The bloodiest lot OF
blawsted thieves outside the peDitentiary'
And well might our English friend pro-
claim his disgust at Fargo and all Forsa-
ans for he had put up at the wrong hotel
and been robbed go thoroughly that he
hadn't apparel 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
encounters, not only from her sister
Moorhead over the way. but from the out
lying towns for miles and miles away.
which are green with envy over the sue
cessful career of this dominant city OF
the Red River valley. Containing now
population of more than 1000, Fargo is
simply in it's 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 country. 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 provender. Nor is the
wonderful fertility of this valley any new
discovery, since the Hudson Bay company
in conjunction with the English and Ca
madam fur companies. planted their colo
mes and reaped their rich harvests on
this very soil almost century ago The
rise, progress and downfall OF these colo
MES forms terrible chapter of the cupid
ity that plunged these companies into &
war with each other; ond the annals OF
the western border are black with the
savagery that was invoked upon all SIDES
TO make the warfare more sanguinary and
the victory more bloody, Here extending
from south to north for $50 miles, and
from west to east 40 to so miles, is one
-osts, barley, buckwheat, rye, potatoes and
garden vegetables, entirely unexceled BY
any equal area of country i'll all this wide
world And these broad acres are all TO
he 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 say nothing of the
moiety that must 90 to the closely peO-
pied countries of the old world.
MooThead. to which reference has been
made, is on the Minnesota side Of the Red
river, and has a population in point of
, numbers to suit the convenience of its
most reputable liars Commercially it is
not wanting in smartness that character
ICES its sister city of Fargo, and as &
distributing point has exactly the same
facilities. The town has a GOd-forsaken
look, its streets being solely devoted tc
the nurturing of a sea of black muck thai
is too thick for navigable purposes and
TOO thin for pedestrian or vehicle purposes
The footprints of the inevitable Yankee,
however, are seen on every hand, for the
school house and the church and the
newspaper stand out in conspicuous
prominence in connection with the mania
for real estate speculation. Like Fargo
it is no place for drones, and theman who
expects to sit down with his hands in his
own pockets instead OF other peoples
will be very likely to be sat down upol
and sent home.
In my travels thus far through Dakot'
| have been able to gather up som
impressions of the country and its peopl
that would seem to demand a brie
comment. And first, the laboring men
as such is at decided discount every
where. His living is high. while hi
wages are low. This comes of the terrif
influx of labOrers of a time when Their
was great demand for single class
such as carpenters, bricklayers, etc. Hun
dreds at the east left profitable employ
ment behind them to come here, and year
to get back again, without being able t
pay their way The laborer or skilled
artisan who cannot here command doubl
the wages that he did at the east, mus
absolutely deprive himself of the comfort
and the necessities of life, for after he ha
paid his SIS or $13 per week for ordinar
board, and sustains his extraOrdinar
weekly expenses outside of that, he dis
covers the impossibility of making bot
ends meet. OF clerks and book keeper
there is and always has been surfei
No more are wanted, as they are alread
here in sufficient numbers to grow apaC
with the country and It's business.
There is, however, great and Nigh
say praYerful demand for class of femal
help that seems to fight shy Of all newl
settled communities. The girl or wome
who is capable of doing housework
large or small families can command he
own price. The Norwegian emigran
with no conception of the English Ian
guage and no adaptsbility to America
customs or cookery, is the good house
wife's evaporation; but she is the onl
available material for the performance G
household duties here, and she is paid
higher rate of wages per week than Il
man who bores mountains and spans I'll
valleys for the advent of the railroa
Good, worthy, reliable girls who can cor
mand the vernacnlar, can also commaI
fabulous wages.
In my last letter briefly alluded to IL
healthfulness of this portion of the coul
try and its advantages to those who a
suffering from pulmonary complaint
While the climate is equable to degrt
that we find nowhere else in this countI
the air has an invigorating quality tn
affords emarkable aid in the recuperatiC
of broken down constitutions. TIL
characteristic of the climate, despite Il
severe winters, has induced the settleme
in all parts of the territory of hundre
and probably thousands who are gettir
a now lease of life in the compulso
process of roughing it in new countr
and participating in the general excit
ment of booming new towns, a subje
which propose to treat in my next.
DOM PEDRO
Horace Boies on the Germans of low
They are the bone and sinew Of the
boring classes of the state, and witho
tharn Onr fnxrync mould la,c,,.ab oad mo,