St. Paul daily globe., 1888-12-15
The Most Prosperous Year
for the Farmers Ever
Known There.
Rapid City and All the Other
Towns Have Shared the
Prosperity.
New Mines to Be Opened and
More Railroads to Be
Built.
Special to the Globe.

RAPID CITY, Dec. 1.-THE Black
Hills at present lie white and glistening
under the first coat of winter snow.
The fall was light. but is sufficient to
give an impetus to holiday business, ard
mercantile matters are, as result,
somewhat animated. otherwise life is
rather quiet, for the people of the Hills
have put OH their winter habits. The
miners are busy at winter work, the
labor of representing" being necessar-
lily performed during the months when
prospecting is out of the question. The
farmers were long since finished with
their fall work, and the stockmen, such
as are not engaged in tending stock on
winter ranges, are idly waiting the COM
ing OF the spring rOundingS. About the
only really basy people about town are
the builders, and they are still hard at
work. In fact, the building season
never ends here. In the cold months of
January and February the outside oper-
ations are necessarily suspended, but
when this cold weather comes there is
sufficient inside work to keep all busy.
So it may be said that the coming of
winter, heralded by this snow storm,
finds the people ready for the season.
The cold weather is as welcome as the
warm, for well have the farmers and
stockmen learned that cold weather
and deep snow mean bountiful crops
and luXuriant grass, on which the huge
herds on the range wax fat. 1t is not
quite possible to give any accurate fig
ureS concerning the result to the farm
erS of the
LAST SEASONS YIELD.
but ii may be stated that of wheat alone
from So, 900 to $4,000 bushels have been
sold in this market, and that almost
that much more remains to be brought
in. The yield of oats was much larger.
The corn crop will not fall far short of
25,U00 bushels-the biggest ever known
here. Thousands of tons of hay were
cut and cured, as hay was cut this year
where it was never cut before. Thou
sands of bushels OF potatoes have been
shipped 10 the eastern markets, and of
other vegetables Dountiful yield was
harvested. 1t was by far the most prof
liable summer for the agricultural
class in the history of this region. 1t is
noteworthy that the farmers of the
Black Hills are realizing that energetic
farming pays, and the prospect now is
that next season the arabic land of the
Hills will be titled with an asSiduity
hitherto unknown. The stockmen, too,
have made a big clearing. With the
advantage of high market before them.
the cattle owners of this country found
themselves prepared with thousands Of
head of fat cattle, and the railroad
facilities were crowded for months car
rying the stock to market. One lot may
be cited as sample: 1t was bought on
the range by Chicago brokers from
Rapid City parties, and twenty cars
averaged in Chicago l,400 pounds to the
steer. The lot was sold in Chicago for
THE BOSTON MARKET.
1t netted the Rapid City men nearly
$4,000. Between $4,000 and 100000
head of stock have been shipped from
this country during the season. and tie
returns therefrom amount to upwards
of S4,000,000. So it hasn't been such a
bad year for Black Hills farmers and
grazers after all. In the mines the
same activity has been carried on all
through the season that marked its
opening. Many dollars have been spent
III opening up new mines, and several
old mills have been started up. In not
q single instance has mill been shut
down because it did not pay. But one
mill in this country has been stopped
the Standby. 1t was closed because of
a disagreement between the owners of
the mine and the lessee. Arrangements
are now under way to start the mill
again soon. All over the Hills the
mines have proSpered, and the bullion
output will be the largest for many
years.
In the towns the same general pros
perty has prevailed. Deadwood and
Rapid City have both been greatly i'm
proved in the matter of buildings and
public accommodations. In Deadwood
one costly brick block has been COM
pleted and others have been commenced.
The huge plant of the Deadwood Re
duction works will soon be in operation,
and its success (which is not questioned
will be the source of deriving thousands
of dollars from mines now compara-
lively idle The Deadwood Central
railroad, which is to connect that town
with the mining towns of Lead City and
Genital City, is nearing completion, and
a pact of the line will be put in opera
ton before the year is out.
IN RAPID CITY
three brick blocks. with a street front
age OF over 400 feet, have been COM
plctcd, a fine Episcopal church has been
built. and residences and dwelling
houses beyond number have been put
up. Many are still in process of erec-
tiun. and arrangements for the erection
of two more large brick blocks are
under way. The Masons have COM
pieted arrangements for building
S,iu.oo0 temple early next year. and the
Knights of Pythias intend erecting a
castle hall scarce less costly. Streets
have been graded and approaches to
the town from the country repaired.
The building of the st Paul, Black
Hills & Pacific line, TO connect Mandan
aud Rapid City, is assured, and all effort
10 induce the Burlington to build here
is being made. SIurgis, Custer, Hot
Springs, Speartish, in fact every town
in the Hills has shared in
THIS GENERAL ACTIVITY,
and while there has been no effort at a
"boomer." the prosperity and advance
ment of the country during the year
now nearly ended has been of charac-
ter most satisfactory to all. There have
been no business failures in the Hills
during the year. On the contrary. exist
ing firms have increased their facilities,
and new houses have opened their
doors. The new year looks far more
a,ispicious than did the present twelve
months ago, and public hope for great
things is high.