Hand County press. (Miller, Dakota [S.D.]) 1882-1893, 1886-11-11
9AZ1!A's sE! IlvE7y.
Hand County's Agricul-
tural Resources.
And Her Magnificent Railroad Facil-
tiles
A were . Our ssslrtsa Contemporary. III.
~. Lawrsaes

Duringths past Ave ycafs the PRrss
has frequently taken pride in directing
she attention Of all IL could reach. to the
great Gnrden spot OF Central Dakota, to-
wit: Hand county. Some Of our old
readers may yell "chestnuts" II we
should repeat some Of our figures show
ing the relative proportions Of this no.
BILE county. However, the PRESS reaches
many new readers outside OF Hand eoun-
ty and Dakota. andfor their beneiit we
will bear wiih the cling of the chestnut
gong and briefly repeat some os its lead
ing features We 6rst caution the reader
that some Of our statements will seem
preposterous ana bsyona all reason, but
We wish they would be kind enough to
look up the Official" figures and prove to
themselves the truth OF eur statements.
Hand county is little over twenty and
one-half times larger than the District OF
Columbia. 1t is 355 square miles larger
than the entire state OF Rhode Island und |
nearly as large as the state Of Delaware. |
Its area is i44O square, miles, or 92l 600 |
acres--rather a buxom county, to be sure.
The population of the county is close to |
l0,OOs-very good for hve-year- An
other great point ir favor Of the county,
as well rs against 1t, perhaps, is that loans
are more readily paced on rel estate in
II than any Of the adjoining |
counties. The reason of this is because
of the unusual productiveness and depth |
Of the soil; q generous aud comparative |
ly equal distribution OF water courses and
last md greatest Of all, because il is settled
mp with class of practical. thorough
brOd farmers Compared with the settle
ment Of her sister COUNTIES, her class OF
sp, culative. hot house farmers are way in
the minority. This is conceded by all
acquainted with the fscts and none sp.
preciate the value Of developing county |
with settlement Of practical class Of |
farmers than does the PRESS. We desire
to see the day hasten around when the
yard stick" and "book keeper" farmer
will prove mp and sell out to farmer who
faRal alatingRiseAb bRe!sesRs pl9y end 4 seEa
where man who was not mised farmer.
possesses genius and en.srpriss that en-
ables him to out farm some Of the old
veterans, these we want to remain. The
county is now all nicely settled but a
very large portion of our farmers have
suffered very greatly from lack Of rail
road and shipping facilities. Many Of
them have teen compelled to haul their
grain 25, 30 and IS miles to market. taking
two days to make the trip. which. with the
prevailing low prices for produce. has
made profits myth. For the past two
seasons crops were short, prices were
evei shorter. Most Of our farmers were
poor when they came and now are much
poorer. Many were mora unfortunate
thIu their neis shbors on account Of hail.
Many OF them cannot flrm at all, and still
a great minority are heavily burden,d with
and all are necessarily burden.
Cd with taxes. This is the dark side Of
the narrative but there is nothing In II
that argues against the county. Calami-
ties Of this kind occur in every country
and farmer who moves to another coun-
try usually jumps from the frying pan into
the hre. Good seasons have demonstrated
that this country produces crops in mar
vslous abundance. Our belief Is still firm
that he who keeps stiff upper lip and
\ tight purse string" will win-right here
in Hand county. It was great boon to
ouf settlers to have the great Chicago and
Northwestern railway running through
The center OF the county from east to
west. What this read has done towards
he settlement and DEVELOPMENT Of Hand
,ounty cannot be over estimated.
Now the mass Of farmer In the northern
md southern portions Of the county are
% be favored with the great c. N. and St
?. railroad. They are to.be equally favor
, i:so far rs railroad facilides go. with
heir brethren Of the central portion Of
he county. What benefit my SIT to
'ither Of the towns OF Miller or Sc. Law
encs by this new read Is Of secondary
Importance an compared with that accru-
na IN the vast agricultural portions Of the
county.
The st. Lawrence Journal makes Use Of
Is us mi vanlting and unlimited imagina-
ion and on it's pages We fnd Sage has
made special arrangements with the
Ilmighty to hereafter permit the Solar
ystem to revolvs around "railroad cross
ng" this side Of st. LAwrepcs. On his
'apsr We and the present town site Of
Il. Lawrence literally submerged with
round houses. repair shops.
isisicn ststions, seventeen storv union
spots while those two -four mills will
end daily long winding trains ladened
nth 6our. making the Queen Bee mill
nd the Minneapolis Milling Association
As for Miller--confound Il,
age, ought TO BE- hung. The people
ere are panic stricken. They seem elatnd
YER his invitation 10 move over to st.
.awrencs and are stringing over there at
head long rate that makes us dizzy. We
Annst check them. We trv to tell them
sw woIssy used 10 try to argue itself into
Chicago with their crossing; how the 4
ttlc -house-town Of Villas used to do
be- same. Salem and Scotland tickIed
,smssivss 10 death with the same hind OF
straw years ago. Thousands Of other
abroad CROSSINGS ir the states revslcd In
be same luxurious Imagination In their
av--hafora daofh Wall NftIIs~ hss Aha |