St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-02-01
MINNESOTA TO NEBRASKA.
A Winter Trip-What a Tourist Saw and
Experienced.

ten promise to furnish an occasional letter
for your columns, occurred to me this morn
ing, while rambling around this city, and
Notwithstanding the distance that intervenes
l could not forego the pleasure of con versing
with an old friend, though at the risk of
having my effuson consigned 10 the cavern
Gus depths Of the Unsuitable waste basket
! Your correspondent left Minnesota on the
| 18th inst, the surface of mother r.earth COW
cred with nearly two feet Of the ''beauti-
! ful'' % and which necessitated detour Of
nearly 200 miles to reach Omaha, the near
| est route being entirely blockaded; the Their
mometer registering 81 degrees below zero
in La Crosse on the morning Of the Goth
The journey down the Mississippi over the
| Dubuque division of the Milwaukee & st.
Paul, was made without special incident, but
showing an ever decreasing quantity of
snow and many open places in the river,
some of them acres in extent. Sabula juno
ton was reached on time and we found the
train Of the Council Bluffs division in wait.
ing; the change was quickly made and in
few moments we were speeding out over the
broad prdiries of Iowa, like the star of en-
| pire, taking our way westward.
| As this portion Of the journey was made in
| the night l cannot give a description of the
country, but, as its praises have been sung
in thousand tongues, and written by a
hundred ADLER pens than ours, the reader
suffers no loss from the omission here.
Right here allow me to digress and pay
deserved tribute to the c., NJ Il st. P. rail-
road. In my opinion western railroad
caters more to the comfort of Its
patrons than this, with its elegant day
coaches and DINING cars, which latter are
| claimed to be, and with justice too, We think
| to be the finest in the world-certainly unex-
celed. One can enjoy all the comforts of an
elegant home, and when the drowsy god
weighs down the weary eye-lid, one has but
to repair to the luxurious Pullman and pass
the hours of night in sleep as sweet and I'M
| broken as though taken at ones favorte
hotel, or at home. This is the luxury Of
modern travelling.
Reaching Council Bluffs on the morning
of the 21st,we found that city laboring under
smallpox scare, several cases having en
discovered within her borders, so we Il lie
no halt there, but passed con to Omal ~
We find this city to possess many
|
Paul and Chicago. 1t has all
the western rush by hustle of both cities, but
with the wickedness of Chicago intensified.
| Standing on the borders of the frontier it Is
| the entrepOt of civiliZation-or rather the
neutral ground between civilization and the
| crudeuess and wickedness of the frontier
mining camps There are many elegant
public and private buildings in Omaha, and
were they congregated in particular locality
it would pass for u metropolis; out side by
side with palace will be found hovel, ele-
gance and squalor go hand in hand. Not
withstanding the fact that saloons pay a
| heavy license, one or more can be found in
every block. A vast amount of vile liquor
must be consumed in Omaha to furnish SUBJ
sistence for all who are dependent on the
traffic for support. Again, the city is the
| courtesan's paradise. Several places
of public resort in the city rival the
most elegant private residences; and one
might remain in them for hours and days
| without suspicion that he was elsewhere than
in one of the most refined families, But for
one of these there are hundred vile dens,
into which it is as much as ones life is worth
TO venture, and in which a man of character
would not be fond for less than the price of
his life. A bill has be- introduced into
this legislature to remedy the social evil, and
it is hoped that it may pass, and wipe out
these sinks of infamy.
From Omaha to Lincoln the distance is
ninety-tve miles, and the Journey can be
made at several different hours of the day,
over either the Union Pacific or the Burlng-
| ton IL Missouri railroads, which pass through
as fine farming section as one would wish
to see; and here, for the first time, the
difference between Nebraska and Minnesota
| farming becomes apparent. In marked con-
trast to the substantial buildings located in
the midst OF well titled and fertile acres, pro-
ducing all the varied crops which farmer
should in Minnesota, we see here loosely
constructed tnements, situated in the midst
of illimitable corn fields. The farmer here
talks corn, eats corn, burns corn, and we
don't know but he gets to be sort of an ag-
ricultural product himself: certainly many Of
| them have corns. Without testing, the
amount Of corn produced here is something
| wonderful. A distillery at Omaha consumes
large amount, and hundreds Of thousands
Of hogs good deal more, while there are
large amounts shipped 10 eastern markets,
and in the interior portions of the slate it is
also used as iuel 70 quite large extent.
We find very little snow here; indeed the
ground is bare, and delayed trains from
snow blockade are an unknown occurrence.
The weather has been quite spring-like, hay-
! ing thawed sufficiently to render the streets
OF Lincoln quite muddy.
This city is less than twenty years old
indeed, If we mistake not its first settlement
dates back only seventeen years, and yet 1t Is
now bustng, thriving city Of 20, 900 in
habitants. Many Of It's business blocks would
do credit To any city; especially the post
Office, a nam moth four story structure erected
by the govern meut at a cost Of $3.50 000)
one hundred and eighty thousand dollars,
Il L.s, II
the La Platte quarries. The build
| ing Is situated at the southern edge
! Of Government square, in the ex-
act center Of the business portion Of the city;
north Of the building and IN the center Of
the square Is au artesan well, whose waters
are said TO possess medical properties uucx--
/ celled IN the cure Of scrofuious, rhrun attic
and cutaneous diseases. The constituents
| are salt, iron, sulphur, magnesia, and nilre
in small degree salt prcdomiuating. There
| are adjacent 10 the city saline marshes, so
4 called; In fact, salt has been made here Ia
limited quantities, but being strongly impreg-
mated with saltpetre was found not 10 be the
best for domestic purposes Salt creek,
| formed and fed by springs iu these saline
Marshes flows through the city. Lincoln 10
Introducing the high pressure water
system, having the past season excavated
well eighty feet in depth and sixty feet In
diameter and the water Of which is pure,
J sweet and soft. Twelve miles Of mains have
been laid, and the erection Of pumping works
and standpipes has been commenced and
| will be completed this season. Both gas and
electric light Is used. Six lines Of railroad
center here, being branches OF the Union
Pacific, Burlington 81 Missouri and Chicago,
Burlington 81 Quincy systems, and the shops
aud rOundhouses Of the BurliD gton q Mis-