The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1883-07-27
The Editorial Excursion.
Editor Free fresS.

people beneath this blue sky more capable of
LONG justice to good meal, than the aver
'gc country editor. The lunch was Il gem,
md toasis and responses were freely eXchang-
ii, until the signal was given to board the
rain, III which time ii hearty vote of thanks
was tcu,icrcd the Newspaper Union for the
court, sizes extended Ia the association
The party were soon On boari, aad noise
and confusion was the order of the hour.
Upt after the berths hnd been assigned,
rsiini quiet prevailed, ami at about nine
och IL The train speeds toward the land of
the Dakotas, ic,ivingSt Paul behind, and rs the
hours wore on and all lmcamc still ON board
found myself coming DER AMI weaving |
into the rhy thmic click, clack, of the whiil- |
lug wheels the words of the poet who said:
even when the day leans down
10 kiss the upturned face Of night,
'ht IuSi beyond the lOli'i-voiccd town
know spot at calm delight,
and u it'll this thought in my mind genial old |
M"rphcIs sprcad his sheltering wirgs above
my pillow, ard slept. I WAS awakened nj
about four the next morning Ia see tho pref |
~ little city Of Alexandria. which ncstles in |
"A larry bower Of evergreen trees AMI rip |
pling lnkclcts. u WITS almost too early to see
much of the city, hui my impression is That
II would bc II nice place to spend the warm
days oi summer. Our party In general made
an extra effort Ia hc up In time to see Fergus
Fall, and We were fully repaid for the loss
al II few hours al sleep; for il is very pref
" lutte city, with II rich farming country
around IL. View told that this was not II
very good year Tor the average run Of farm
products, and thought so after remember
ing Southern Minnesota.
The next town of any importance was
M""rhcad, andas il was getting hate the party
was anxious for breakfast: but. alas! that
break fast was II deiusion and II snare which
existed only in the minds Of II hungry lot of
parar raphcrs. There were too many people
for the number Of walters and of food sup
ply, and after waiting for twenty-five minutes
We told them Ia bring on anything they had
i'm stock. When the tram dragged it's weary
length cut of town II surprised and SORROW
ing landlord viewed the week with u very
expressive face.
With every mile we took toward the setting
sun noticed that the wheat ana corn fields
grew more scattering, and after leaving
Fargo, we did not see corn field, and but
few fields of wheat or oats until we reached
iilisboro, II pretty little village on the Goose
river. Two or three fields of wheat which
We passed looked just fnir--that is, grain
stood quite thick and had begun to head out.
/ thought il looked ~ Though It had passed
through Il long drouth, and would bc bcne-
fitted by II good rain. In truth, Mr.. Editor.
there is nothing here now but Il vast cypansc
of beautiful unbrokcn prairie, which will
one day make lovely agricultural district.
From the time we left Fargo Till we reached
| Hillsboro did not see Il native tree. and only
one tree claim. but !ho claim shanties that
strcwed the plain Went Ia show that the
prc-emption bu siness at least was active.
We stopped for dinner at Aryila, which is
not much Of Il town yet, but in Il few weeks
will be quite Il city, at least one would think
| so by the way the new buildings are going mp.
The propretors of the town, Mcssrs. Hughes
4 Herscy. opened the doors of their elegant
hotel to the freedom of the party, and served
II sumptuous dinner for their dissection. The
proprictors and their wives did themselves
proud in the manner and matter of the enter
tanmen;, at the conclusion of which II short
visit To- their farm, situated about two miles
west from town was made. 1t comprises
5000 acres square, lying on both sides of tho
Turtle river. They have ,lco acres in crops
| this year, all looking finely, ana 900 more
| broken for next year. A 5000 residence Oc-
cupies Il beautiful site upon the bank of the
river, and substantial ana commodious barns
| granaries, etc, are built down upon the
| wooded strip that skirts the waters edge
The stock consists Of IL large herd of the finest
blooded Jerseys. The elevator is the largest
along the line, and has capacity of upward
OF 100000 bushels. The iicrsey house ha,
thirty-SiX rooms and is furnished in more
than usual elegance.
Right here ON this farm we saw the best
crops after leaving tiat paradise of the West
| Blue Earth county. Here SAW the best and
almost the only Held of corn after passing
Fergus Falls. These gentlemen have one
large Held OF wheat that gives promise of II
good yield, although this is an oil year foi
small grain here We had II chance to gaze
upon the only tine garden after passing the
outskirts of Minneapolis. Mr.. Hughes, Mrs
Hersey ami Miss Eva Hersey joined us in til,
trip to Crcel City, Ion as 1t is now called
Devils Lake City.l The ride took the party
through sixty miles of the virgin prairi,
upon which were scattered claim shanties il
every direction, with their accompanying
small patch of plowed ground. M crop hit.
as yet been put into the ground in this sec
| ton.
! Upon the arrival of the train at the Lake
carriages and II committee of the citizen.
were found in waiting To convey tn" Who'll,
party To the dock where the Minnie ii. Wa,
in waiting. This is new steamer and nice
one, owned by Capt. Herman. She will car
ry no people with ease. ANA with Capt. u. a
the wheel can safely and swiftly skim over
the lucid breast of this inland salt sea. The
lake is 30 miles long and in some places an'
5 miles wide. 1t has II shore of over 300 miles
On the south shore is Fort Tottcn and In,
eadauarters for the red man. They hav.
some very nice farms around the Fort ami
quiet industrious settlement. Directly norti
from the Fort, across the Lake, is Grand
HarIor After II ride of about fifteen miles
we returned to the city by moonlight, whcr'
Il grand banquet WAS i'm waiting. This b;lnquc
was served by the citizens of the Lake, an,
over the scene tiat followed draw n veil as
nj this time we are all too fnH for utterancc
1t was a rcpast tit fora king. AT any rat.
the whole party stayed by il until one in the
morning, when we sought rest within,
our home on wheels.
The next morning after breakfast We took
the back track tn Grand Forks, where we ar
rived in time for dinner. The editors were
met at the depot by the brass band and /;
delegation of citizens and escorted TO III,
Grigys house, where the party were hand
somcly entertained by the members of the
press and citizens. Two hours were pleas
antly occupied in looking about the thriving
city, after which we again boarded the train
and started north. At Grafton, II pretty
little town in Walsh county. we were met by
the band, the party were formed in process
sion with the music at the head, and marched
through the streets to the two hotels where
we were again made happy.
As the regular train Of the Manitoba road
only runs as far as Ncchc, delegation iron
Winnipeg, consisting of Consul j. W. Tay'
lor Assistant superintendent Brown ana X
Is. Hurstonc of the Canadian Pacific railrsad
and w. +. LuXtUn OF the Winnipeg Free Ires'
wore in waiting with special train to take
the cxcursionists to Winnipeg, arriving there
at GOO o'clock Saturday morning. After
break fast the time until O'Clock in the al.
ternoon was spent rs the choice ol the indi-
yilual suggested At that time lunch was
spread at the Queens hotel 10y the Mayor and
CITY Council, well seasoned with toasts and
songs. The entire party were then given a
two hours drive about the city in carriages
after which II few Of us took a short ride III
n Red River cart, which was novelty We
had not counted upon, and an experience not
easily forgotten.
While we were ut dinner (which Is supper
hcrcl the manager of the Katie Putnam com,
pany stepped in and invited the party To-
y;s,, the entertainment that night and rs all
wcrc ont with the intention of not missing
,,yth;uy.we went in n body ana spent very
| pleasant evening.
Al midnight. accompanied by Mr., hurry,