The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1883-03-15

tains with their shining helmets Office,
with their colossal precipices and con-
cealed crevasses, for noble rivers
crowded with great ships, steamers
and other craft; for mines of silver, |
gold and other precious metals; for
towers, domes, palaces of kings and
castles of princes, as seen in the Old
World. Oh, no, they saw, perhaps,
but a high rolling prairie, dotted here
and there with villages, towns and
cities, and covered with golded grain,
with ripening crops, or with countless
massive pyramidal cones of wheat.
They saw, perhaps, the garnered crops
and the great barns groaning with
choicest products, which, to the peo-
pie, were more precious than treasures
of jewels and gold, and which is the
annual tribute OF earth to her indus
trious children. They saw bonanza
farms of thousands. of acres each, with
great depth of soil, and richer than the
gold dust of India, while everywhere
around they b ard the sound of the
hammer and the saw, the shrill whis-
tie of the engines, and the working of
the latest improved machinery used in
cultivation, and in the harvesting of
the superabundant crops. Above all,
they saw hardy, industrious and pros
porous people. full of energy, life and
activity, Dakota boasts of having the
cream of the energy and manhood of
the older States and nations as her in
habitants. This is no Tom Tiddler's
ground for the idle, the dissolute and
the extravagant. They come here to
work, to economic and to be success
full, and every man with energy, mus
Gle and nerve can succeed; he can
make an honest living out of the
ground in any part of the territory,
and can do it thousand times easier
than the man who planted fifty years
ago, and packed sack of corn upon
his shoulders twenty miles to the mill.
or beat it to flour with pestle.
Dakota possesses a healthy and
agreeable climate. The air is pure and
dry the Springs and Autumns are de-
lightful, the Summer heat is never ex,
cessive, by reason of the cooling breeze
found in this region. The Winters
which are looked upon by Eastern
people as the great drawback to life in
intolerable az is generally supposed
The popularity of our dry and bracins
atmosphere is that while the thermom
eter indicates twenty degrees below
omfortable ease, while ia the State!
bordering on the great lakes, and or
the New England coast, it is equally
as uncomfortable at ten or even TWEEN
ty degrees above zero. The last Win
ter was an extremely open one, anc
perhaps remarkable one for this sec
ton of the country. From reliable
information received (nOt being her
ourselves) there was scarcely day tina
carpenters could not work with a de
gree of comfort on the roofs of houses
and many days fires in offices ant
buildings were not absolutely needed
The winter previous was somewha
colder, but not q severe one, and i
has been suggested that if the ele
ments should keep on improving 70
the next few years as they hav the pas
two or three seasons, people living il
the South will be coming North to es
cape the cold weather.
The soil is exceeding rich-a fin,
black loan, two to four feet in depth
under which is a retentive clay subsoil
1t abounds in organic matter and il
very fertile. It's principle products art
wheat, oats, barley, fax, potatatoe
and other vegetables. Dakota whea
has become celebrated for it's superior
quality.
The educational facilities are good
The school system is property man
aged and is all that could be expected
or desired, considering its recent settle
ment. One section of land in every
sixteen is set apart by the general gov
ernment for the benefit of the schools
thus endowing public instruction with
a revenue which guarantees to every
tanning good common school educa
ton. Good churches of all denomina
tions are to be found in the Territory
and generally are well attended anG
well supported.
A person visiting Dakoto will meet
with surprises on every hand. He
will find hotels kept in first class style
and with every accommodation con
ceivable. He will be surprised at the
number of thriving cities and towns
and be astonished to learn in how short
time they have developed. He viii
see immense stocks of goods in many
of our stores and warehouses of every
kind and variety, not surpassed by
many of the largest stores in eastern
cities. If he comes the last of July he
will see to his surprise, hundreds o.
thousands of acles, extending as far as
the eye can reach, covered with a ses
of yellow grain, its heads nodding in
the breeze. If he comes little later
in the season, he will witness the pro-
cess of harvesting, which the genius o.
man has reduced to science by the
invention of the most wonderful me
chanical devices. He will be surprised
by the magnitude of the operations OH
the mammoth farms, where an army
of men and animals. trained and dis.
ciplined to perfection, harvest the
crops on the thousands of acres with
remarkable rapidity. And yet the
greatest surprise of all will be at his
own ignorance, and how little he knew
of this great tesritory of Dakota before
visiting it. Truly yours,
J. G. WILLYARD.