Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-10-17
OUR RAILROAD EXHIBIT.
OF the Dakota Car of Products at
M~1lwaukee-It Draws a Good Audi
ence

ARRIVAL of the Dakota Car of Products at
M1lWaulzee-It Draws a Good Audi-
ence.
milwaukee Sentinel:-The product
car ofthe Milwaukee & st. Paul rail-
road, containing samples of grain and
vegetable products grown along the
llnes OF the company in central and
southern Dakota, arrived at the Union
depot Yesterday and was siGe-tracked
near canal street, west of the immi-
grant depot. In spite Of the disagreed
bic weather, the car was visited by a
large number of people yesterday, by
Whom the contents Of the car were
greatly admired.
Inc car is an ordinary passenger
coach with the seats removed, and with
shelves encircling the interior. The
outer sides of the ear are decorated with
OIL paintings representing the Dakota
harvest fields and south Dakota land
scape views. Painted on either side is
the following inscription:
Samples of Dakota Products
Along the Line of the
Chicago, milwaukee 4 st. Paul Railway.
The car is in charge Of w. d. Powell,
general immigration agent, and asso-
clated with him in the work of fitting
up the car are G. G. Henderson. and d.
IL. Moses, the company's Dakota agent.
The exhibits are from Clay, Union, Lin
coin, Yankton, Bon Homme and other
counties in Dakota, reached by the st.
Paul railway; The car will be taken to
Chicago this morning, and from thence
to Detroit, Buffalo, New England and
the Canadas. After an absence of two
months in the east, the car will be taken
to New Orleans for exhibition at the
worlds fair.
The interior Of the coach presented a
very attractive appearance. The roof
was tastefully trimmed with flax. a
es and grains, wrought into numerous
designs and REALISTICALLY arranged. Right
underneath the roof were hung eight
or nine different varieties of corn in the
ear-yellow dent, yellow flint, white
flint, strawberry, etc. The white flint
corn grows to a length of 14115 inches.
Below the corn display are the shelves
containing specimens Of Dakota 9
tables. There are sweet potatoes.
Weighing 3pounds each, from Yankton:
Irish potatoes grown in Elk Point. I'm
ion county;cucumbers. egg plant, water
and musk melons, squashes, beets, cab
bage, and all kinds of fruit. A display
is also made of preserves from Sioux
Fails, consisting Of plums, blackberries,
raspberries, g%ooseberries, currants. The
vegetables, many Of them, are of mon
strous size. Several CT the beets weigh
from IL to 20 pounds and are grown in
Brown county. On the floor are sweet
pumpkins weighing 8Opounds. a water
melon from Iankton weighing SO
pounds, and other samples of vegetables
OF far more than the usual weight. The
largest is a squash, raised by 0. V.
Knowles, at karam, Lincoln county.
Its circumference is 8 feet and 1 inch.
and its weight 1S5 pounds. There are
also samples Of wheat, oats, rye, barley
andf'aN, Of superior quality. The spare
room in the car is occupied by exhibits
Of bunch grass Z feethigh, timothy with
heads 6 inches long, blue-joint grass ~
feet high, and red-top 5 feet high. A
show is also made of peanuts grown in
Yankton. They grow upon vines like
potatoes, and are dug from the ground.
There are specimens of Sioux Falls
granite, very hard, and capable of a fine
polish, as smooth as marble.
There also arrived at the Union depot,
yesterday, locomotive and tender, con-
.structed entirely Of Wheat, oats,and ev-
ergreen sprigs. The locomotive is eight
feet in length, and every feature of the
ordinary railway engine is reproduced
in miniature. The cow-catcher, bell,
whistle, drive-wheels, steam-chest, pis-
ton-rods, headlight, and everything else,
are all there. The figures '39" are
painted upon the headlight, denoting
that Dakota will be the thirty-ninth
state when admitted into the union.
The engine is named IS. S. Merrill"
and upon the tender are the letters, &C.,
NJ. & st. P" Accompanying the loco
motive is q baggage car and sleeper,
in form, and Constructed Of Da-.
.kota grain and grasses. The whole is
the work of VIM. slpben, of Aberdeen,
and has occupied his time for, about
three weeks. r is q very. creditable
display Of Ingenuity, taste and patience.
Vanderbilt Oh Politics. !
New York, OFT. 1-fn reilly to aquies-
ton as to how he would vote, Mr.. ,Van-:
derbilt said to-day: ut would not be
surprising if l did not vote at ali.
When I do vote, I vote for men and not
for party. Mr.. Blaine is a smart man,
and Mr.. Cleveland q good man. There
is no doubt of that. hope that it will
not be a walk-oyer for either party. I