The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1883-06-28
A SHORT VACATION.


this principle, the writer resolved, ,
couple of weeks ago, to let chance direc
his wanderings subject only to the limi
tations which an attenuated pocket boob
might impose. Naturally the great West
that vast sea which receives the many
streams of immigration, offered attrac-
tons which banished indeciBion and
westward the star of empire took its
way"
To any one having ''the instinct of the
soil, northern Illinois is paradise, rich
in soil, in produce and in that beauty
which is the reflection of prosperity. A
farmer in this section is monarch, one to
be envied for his independence, respected
| for his success and extolled for his wisdom.
| Nature placed her treasures near the sur
face and pours out wealth in return for
| labor. A richer soil the sun does not
shine upon, more prosperous farming
community, enjoying all the facilities
which give marketable value to produc-
tions, is not known. Wealth and con-
tent dwell here in harmony and make the
tiller of the soil veritable lord of crea-
ton.
AS the Father of Waters is approached
the soil grows poorer, but the eye, grown
wearied by the vast expanse of product
i've and unbroken lands, finds relief in
the greater diversity of surface here pre-
sented. The bluffs have not a grandeur
in keeping with that of the historic
stream whose course they direct. The
railroad bridge over which the Milwau-
kee & st. Paul runs from Savanna to
Sabula, claims the attention of the trav-
eler, colossal structure representing a
fortune in itself.
Iowa is repetition of Illinois until
the water shed between the Missouri and
Mississippi breaks the morotony of the
seemingly illimitable prairie. The farms
are not SO highly cultivated as il Illinois,
and one is impressed more by the posi-
bilties of the future than the realities Of
the present. There are larger farms,
however, it being no unusual thing to
ind farmer owning from 1000 to 1900
acres, all under cultivation except por-
| tons for pasturage. Climb the bluffs
north of Coon Rapids and when the
summit is reached, if the prospect then
presented to your gaze does not thrill
you with iudesoribable delight, make
your home within some walled city for
your soul is made for conventional pleas
ures.
The grove is an invariable accompani-
ment of each farm house in this section.
That this has utilitarian rather than an
esthetic object is clearly indicated by its
name, "wind- break" Those vast, tree
less prairies must be simply terrible in
the storms of winter, and no doubt. a
person who has received the favorable
impression that summer visit will not
fail to give, will be disenchanted by a
winter sojourn. Wagon roads are poor
throughout Iowa. The deep black soil
is too yielding for heavy and continuous
travel. There are very few gravel pits,
the railroad company through this part
have used crushed stone for ballast, and
so Iowa must plod on with unimprovea
roads.
A casual observer would say the soil
of Iowa is similar to the black loan of
this state. But it is so only in appear
ance, having more of the silica and les s
of the vegetable matter. 1t is by no
means 80 easily worked, is pulverized
with more difficulty and will not with
stand drouth so well. The river val
leys are an exception and particularly the
Missouri bottoms and the Sioux valley,
two of the richest sections of the state,
the soil being a mixture of mold, clay,
etc., river deposition.
Council Bluffs is the gate of the great
west. The number of railroads having
their western terminii here may be ap-
propriately summarized in the oft used
expression, numerous to mention.
Five different trains on five different
roads leave Chicago at the same time
and pursuing their different and diver
gent courses. after % hours arrive stimuli
taneously at the Union Pacific transfer
depot,-a circumstance which presents
forcibly to the mind the almost perfect
system to which railroading is reduced.
Truly, the railroad and the telegraph are
marvels, benefcent not only in a COM
mercial sense but molding into homo
geneity what would otherwise be diverse
elements. Omaha fronts Council Bluffs; ;
the former on the treshold of what is the
new West; the latter the limit of the old.
But the telegraph, the railroad, the
newspaper, make intercourse through
out the broad land general and what
would be conflicting interests of discor-
dant sections are the varied ones of a
large nation. The Pacific slope had no
interests in common with the Atlantic
Plain, prior to the building of the q. P.
But now these two sections and the Mis-
sissippi Valley. are one. California and
Maine are sister states and standing at
the transfer depot where ends the east
and begins the west, one cannot help
feeling that here is the great motor nerve
which moves the muscle of the whole
country and harmonizes feeling.
The Missouri bottoms are devoted
largely to grazing. One cannot fail to
be impressed with tho traditional peace
fulness of pastoral life from hurried
glimpses of large droves of cattle the
herdman, either iounging on the grass,
or ''pricking across the plain" in true
frontier equipment. At Sioux City the