River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1885-07-16
Iowa Letter.
HAwARDEN, Ia, July II. 'S5.

| EDITOR JOURNAL: Since leaving
| the Falls, June Goth, have Travelled
| over a great portion of southern Da-
| kota and northwestern Iowa. rms Is
| an open prairie country ana Is last
| being settled. | can see vast improve
ment in this whole section of country
! since was here two years ago. The
/ principal crops are wheat, flax, corn
! and oats. Many thousands of trees
are planted yearly, SO that now the
! homes Of the older settlers are Wen
protected from wind.
Crops all through this section are
magnificent; there is nothing IN Wis
consin which can compare with thelh.
| Harvest has commenced in rye, and as
| you look over the fertile fields you can
! see hundreds of binders tying up the
| golden grain.
There is no natural timber any
where to be seen, and the only fuel is
coal and hay.
/ The liquor law is very strict in Iowa.
| Yesterday a man was fined $50 for
/ selling two glasses of beer. People
/ who are found guilty of selling intoXi-
eating drinks are severely punished.
| Yet with all the vigilance on the part
! of the state, am sorry to say that
! have seen more open drunkenness IN
/ cities having from 500 to 900 inhab-
! itants than | ever saw in River Falls
with all her saloons.
| hal the pleasure of spending the
Fourth at Dell Rapids, Dakota, with
! Walter CrosSman and Clarence Swan
man. Walter is the leading merchant
| Of his city and is the owner OF fine
Jasper block, and has large stock
| with an excellent trade. lie is an en-
ergetic business man and has lots OF
| friends. Mr.. Savannah is keeping
books for Crossman and at the same
time is breaking up large farm, hav-
ing broken half section this year.
The great resource of Dell Rapids are
the ineXhaustleSs beds of beautiful
jasper, which are becoming very val
liable. Oscar Crossman is on the Pa
cilic coast. lie reports having seen
many of the "old timers Of the Falls
among them Myron Packard.
Now word for this new country II
general. Many people think tins
waste of grass and weeds. Now, they
are mistaken, as you will see as gooC
, farms here as anywhere in the world
/ The settlers are thrifty and are getting
to pay spot cash for everything. Cat
tie raising is getting to be quite an III
? dustry and thousands of heads ma.
(. be seen in IA single herd. This yea
there is sown more flax than eve
! before, owing to the high price of las
& year: and / must say that 1t is beau
S tiful sight to see a section of flax Il
2 bloom, it looks like a large inlan'
/ lake, especially when there is a llttl
= breeze.
: wish some Of the people of Pierre
a county could see the school house
=. through this section of country an
+ then go back. am sure they woul
K feel ashamed of some of their hOg-pe
e novels Everywhere are seen mic
). school houses, and great interest
n taken in education. In all of the CT
$ les aud villages are graded schools. |
n most cases the buildings are far supt
:. rior to any found in Northwestern
l. Wisconsin. AS to the schools then
Y selves | cannot say whether they al
e better or not. In all places of i'll
A portance are found several churches
e and the people IN general have a hig
IS moral standard.
IS The drawbacks to this country al
e the destructive cyclones and ha
4, storms which pass over it. There h5
been none this year and everythin
looks very promising just now.
Il places there is some vacant land, bl
e all the valuable land is taken up.
r am acting as salesman for the ;
e Paul Harvester Co. and am meetin
i. with good success, having sold abol
z IS, 900 worth OF goods since starte
d out. | think | have said enough, al
n Will close by wishing good will to Il
?, JOURNAL and my friends at the Fall
q wish had copy of the good o
'e paper now.
/ Yours truly, NJ. L. COLLINS.