St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-01-08
DULUrH,s pOssIBILITIEs.

BANNING stated IL in his after-dinner speech,
and the comparison suggested the posi-
bilities which yet lay before ''the Zenith
city by the unsalted sea-" 1t would be vain
to say what Duluth will be. 1t is more
profitable to speak of what it may be.
During the last five years the population
of the city has increased $50 per cent, and
the wheat shipments have increased frac-
ton over zoo per cent. 1t will thus be seen
that the population has increased in almost
exact proportion TO the grain business.
And it is safe to figure on this basis and as
sumo that if Duluth is to remain a grain
shipping port exclusively its population and
prosperity will increase or decline in proper
ton to the amount of wheat handled. A
possibility for Duluth is that its ambition
will not be confined to grain shipping alone.
1t has made great record in this respect,
standing the second on the list of American
cities and the third in the world. SO rap
idly has this business grown upon the popu-
latiOn that the people of Duluth have had
no time to devote to anything else than to
receive and take care of the wheat which
has been poured in upon them. Now that
they have caught up with the tide and are
in position to take breathing spell, the en-
teTprising people of the city can take a sur
vey of the field which lies before them
and prepare to develop and utilize
the other elements of prosperity which
they possess. There is no reason why
Duluth should not become a great manu-
featuring center. Nature has beautifully
supplied the city with all the facilities for
profitable manufacturing. First of all it
stands in the center of great lumber dis
trict. 1t is reasonable to assume that if
there is any profit in the manufacture of
wooden articles, Duluth may as well realize
the profit as to ship the lumber for some
one else to be profited by manufacturing.
In the next place Duluth possesses
all the facilities for successful milling.
AS long as the great Northwest continues
to pour golden stream Of its staple crop
into the lap of Duluth, il is possible that
-four can be manufactured there as cheap
as on any other part of this continent But
the greatest possibility of all that lies in the
pathway of Duluth's progress is the iron
manufacturing interest. Nature has dumped
a great mass or the richest ores of the world
Cheap water transportation will. lay coal
down at the wharf cheaper than it can be
had in Chicago. During the past summer
coal was sold at Duluth for 25 cents on the
ton less than it was sold in Chicago.
Limestone can be brought from Kelly's
island, in the middle of Lake Erie, almost
as cheap as it can be taken to Cleveland.
Two-thirds in the cost of freight could be
saved by shipping metal instead of raw
ores. The vessels which would come to
carry away the metal and the wheat accu-
mutations would be glad to carry in the
coal at reduced rates. Taking everything
into consideration there are only two things
needed to make Duluth the Pittsburg of the
Northwest-capital and the disposition to
do it. With these various manufac turing
interests added to its established business
of wheat shipments, one could not now I'M
dertake to draw the line which would limit
Duluth's future prosperity. Whether they
will be added in the immediate future or
not we do not attempt to predict We do
say that it is possible to be done.
The apprehension expressed in certain
quarters that Duluth's rapid advancement
will be injurious to st. Paul and Minneap-
oils is unfounded. On the contrary, it is
capable of demonstration that Duluth's adj
vancement in the directions we have indi-
Gated will promote the prosperity of the
twin cities. There can be no possible
rivalry between them and the Zenith CITY.
except it be that competition should arise
in the milling interests between Mime
nlt,Th
which would be to stimulate greater activity
and in the end to produce better re-
suits for both. So far as st. Paul is con-
cerned, there could be no sort of COMPETE
ton. Duluth can never build up jobbing
trade. The condition of the country which
surrounds it forbids such an idea. Nor
can it ever become distributing point, ex-
cept for heavy merchandise. and in this re-
gard will only be the receiving depot for
st. Paul and Minneapolis. So far as the
manufacturing interest is concerned, st.
Paul already has a plant to give it
a prestige which cannot be overcome.
Our position here at the head
of navigation on the Mississippi
and in the midst of the foremost agricul-
tural section of the Union will forever Sc
cure to st. Paul the jobbing trade of the
Northwest, her place as the railway center
of the same section and the important posi-
ton of leading manufacturing and distrib-
uting point. When Duluth furnaces smelt
the iron ores, the metal will be brought to
the st. Paul foundries to be worked I'D.
That is all there is of it. There can be no
competition, no rivalry. AS Mr.. COCHRAN
said in his Duluth speech, man makes
cities, but God makes the places to put
the cities. And thus it is in the arrange
ments made by an omniscent mind there
has been created sphere each for Duluth,
for st. Paul and for Minneapolis, and yet
plan by which all three can be brought into
complete harmony of action. The most
possible of the many possibilities of the fu-
ture is that these three cities. standing with
clasped hands, shall be the agency by which
the waters of the lake system and the
waters of the Mississippi shall be brought
into virtual comminglng, while from the
mouth of the st. Lawrence TO the mouth of
the Father of Waters shall be one unbro-
ken fresh water sea upon whose bosom the
richest argosies of the world shall be
freighted. We do not say it will be so.
We do say it is possible.
DULUTH ECHOES.
The stranger who visits Duluth with the
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