Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1885-01-23


early and stays so late, We can ra'so
neither apples, pears, nor peaches up
there Nor can we raise Indian corn,
anu for that reason our Canadian
Northwest can never bo u great pork
country. Small fruits. cherries, rasp-
berries, ct,rrants and Strawberries. how
ever, will ripcn, but we can not hope TO
make fruit abundant. The cold Is too
severe to enable us to raise ANYTHING
but the hardest kinds OF fruit and corn
those which ripen carly
1--WE who live In the cities do no,
suffer from the cold half as much as tho
farmers. Wood Is scarce all over tho
country, and tho farmer is obliged to
economizo his fuel This Is ono of his
greatest hardships, Along the line OF
railway he can get coal. which Ia NOW
found In great abundance on tho
saskatchewan. but when the farmer has
TO depend on wood for fuel he has a
hard time of it in winter. He somc-
times. makes fuel out OF his manure
heap in the autumn, after the manner
oil tho Mennonites. by mixing II with
straw AMI working u Into the consist
ence Oh peat. This burns well, but in
tho end it will be found expensive. He
must let his fire go out every night and
light 1t next morning when the ther-
mometcr may bo twenty, thirty. or forty
degrees below zero, His dog generally
sleeps at the foot of his bod. Every
thing In tho house freezes. If he hap
pens TO put his lips to any iron sub
stance before he lights tho fire his lib,
stick to it and the skin pcels rff before
he can release then,, II his cellar Is
not good he will lind everything he has,
In tho way of eatables, frozen. He
never wears boots. If he did his feet
would freeze. He puts on three OF four
pairs of stockings and pair of mocca4
sins. If he wants to visit d noighbor.
who probably lives miles away, he
must travel on sbowshoes. The air is so
rarefed that his coming can be heard q
mile away. AS he beats down the snow
in walking the noise will make q dog
Dark at the distance of half a mile.
The stiffness is depressing. lie never
sees bird all through the winter, and
Tn 1he sight OF coyote is always welcome.
The cav, cav of crow to him is a
messenger of Joy, for 1t precludes the
spring. That cav, caw' is tho North
west Canadian farmers opera, and no
lover OF music ever listened to the queen
OF the operatic stage with more pleasure
than he does to the crow rs it gives out
Its cav over the bleak plains of Man
itoba, Alberta, or Asnaboid. He has,
indeed, the aurora to look at in winter,
and he does not tire of it soon either.
The great streamers of tremulous light
are his only outside attractions. 1have
seen, more than once, these streamers
from Y,pt,,t Of
and meet at the zenith, where meteor
of great brilliancy was formed. This
occurred at Prince Albert, which, with
edmonton, Is the most northerly settle
ment in the CANADIAN northwest.
"Ihe Northwestern Canadian is not
a visiting man. He spends all his time
in winter between his house and his out
offices, if he has any. He looks for
ward to splendid fields of wheat and
oats to compensate him for the hard
ships he endures. But he must be care
full These large yields per acre will
become less every year unless the farm
ers manure their lands. In Minnesota
and Iowa thirty-five bushels of wheat to
the acre were not uncommon when the
lands in those States Were first broken,
and now l suppose that they do not av-
erage more than sixteen. The Amer
lean farmers neglect to farm scientific
ally, and worked the land for all it was
worth. 1t is just the same With us.
The summers are short and hot. 1t is
hotter in Winnipeg than it is in Now
York. But here, too, we are ahead of
you people in some things. As we
dress for the winter in furs, we dress
for the summer in becoming way.
Down here man is supposed to sh;ver
in tall black hat and kid gloves in
wintor with pair of earlaps making
him hideous, while in summer he is ex-
pected to change the color of the hat
only, while he roasts under an overcoat
which he calls duster 1t Is Very diff
ferent with us. In summer we wear
thick helmets with good ventilation,
and we keep the sun off our heads
While we have plenty of air. We all
year light clothes, suited to the season,
and flannel shirts with flannel collars
attached are general even among tn |
wealthy. When these are white they |
are becoming, and nothing else is SO |
cool. Then we wear white canvas shoes,
and II we dress for comfort we also |
dress with taste. But we are worried |
with flies. They come in millions,
There are black flies, mosquitoes, bull
dogs and sand flies or bits, and can't see
'em, us the Indians call them.
''As for the Indians, they never bother
us. But do not fancy that the Indians
in the Canadian Northwest are quiet
because OF the paternal policy of the
Canadian Government. That is pop-
ular delusion. The Indians are quiet.
or have been, because the Hudson Bsy
Company, which had judicial and com
mercial control of the country for near
ly two centuries, treated them we'll 1t
was to the interest of the Hudson Bay
Company to be on good terms with the
Indians, and the fact that in their long
Intercourse with the Indians the COM
'any had only one of their number
iiiled is sufficient proof of the friendly
citations which existed between the red
kins and the whitemen all over the
,anadian Northwest. have heard
actors, as the managers of the Hudson ,
LAY posts are called, say that they al
ways gave trust to the Indians in the
Id days, and that the Indians always
'aid their Indebtedness; that there were
cry few disputes, and those that did
ccur were always settled by the legal ]
uthorities. and in conformity with the
lethods of the Indian us well as those
the white man. You see the Hudson
lay Company wanted nothing from the
indian bus hiS furs, and SO long as the !
indian was not robbed of his land he 9
,oked ON the Hudson Bay Company as q
benefactor, and 1t was to his interest y
carry out his obligations and preserve
eace and order. We never had any j
'ouble with the Indians until the Can
dian Government bought the North i
'estern territories from the Hudson Bay /
ompany for 81 ,5OO,0 900, the cheapest \
urchase ever made. Now few Of the il
adams are uneasy because we are tax Q
e their lands. But it does not amount
} anything.
about immigration we have
cen disappointed, i confess, and the
ountry will not be peopled as fast as l /,
Q anticipated But as we grow the y \
s..IA l..