St. Paul daily globe., 1888-07-21
PRAIRIE PRINCESS.
So is Proudly Termed Aber~
deem, the Metropolis Of
the Center.
Only Seven Years Ago It's
Pioneers Slept in Tents !
on Its Site.
Little Foreign Capital or Aid
Was Had in It's Slower,
But Sure Growth.
It Had No Booms and Has Nob
Been Able to Offer Bo-
muses. to Investors.
Special to the Globe.


ABERDEEN. Dak., July 20.-A city is
whatever the collective intelligence,
morals and energy of its citizens make
it. The character of its people make uH
its character, and usually the most
prominent characteristics of citizens
stamp the nature of its fame. Londou
was primarially city of tradesmenr
Commerce is and has been for centuries
its chief interest. the absorbing thought
of its people, and overshadowing all it'd
buried claims to renown is its reputaf
tion as the chief mart of the worlds Of
commerce. Florence, on the othe1
hand, is a city of artists, and has fol-
centuries been the home or the dream
of men skilled in the cunning of thi
brush and chisel. The thought need}
no elaboration. 1t finds illustration in
score of cities in the Western empira
and in none more aptly than in i
THE PRAIRIE PRINCESS. ~
the young glanteSS of internal commerc(
Aberdeen. The men who built Aben
deem were, emphatically, rustlers. Thd
small company of pioneers who. earlI
in May, of the year 1881. fell to sleep iri
the canvas tents that then marked thd
site of the present city, were of the class
so numerous in this country and so geni
orally successful, who are willing I'd
face hardships, to encounter privationa
and to suffer the incOnvenences incft
dent to life in new and undeveloped
region that they may enjoy its oppor3
tunlties and share its quick-paced prost
perlty. They settled upon the primeval
prairie. They rivaled, nay surpassed;
the courage of the pioneers of tha
wooded wildernesses. !
SEVEN YEARS AGO ~
Aberdeen was the outpost of ciyiliZds
tion in the Northwest. During the win4
ter of 1880 party of adventurous pioi
neers, several of whom are still resi-
dents of Aberdeen, wintered near the
present site upon the bleak and inhos1
a. pltable waste over 100 miles from the
nearest railway point. Starvation.
looked them hard in the face a. number
of times, but the coffee mill, a supply
OF wheat and pancake griddle brought
them safely through.
Or such stuff were the men who orr.
glnally plated Aberdeen. Courageous.
active. industrious. They brought lit
tie with them, but that little was their
all. 1t might almost be said that Aber@
deen began business without capital.
The fact that the city from the first.
was
THROWN UPON IT'S OWN RESOURCES
has been an advantage and disadvan-
tage. Having no surplus to recline
upon, her citizens have been from the
first alive and at work. They opened
early and closed up late. Having no
margins to place upon the future they
got all there was out of the present.
The tendency to imitation CHARACTERISTIC
OF young cities has manifested itself
but slightly, and the growth of the city
has unquestiOnably been the most
SUBSTANTIAL AND PERMANENT
of any in Dakota. Projects of mighty
promise, schemes as dazzling as was the
great South sea bubble, have been un-
rolled and laid temptingly before citR
zens for their approval, but in nearly
every instance the verdict from
been 'impracticabIe." Very lit,
tie of Aberdeen's hard-earned CASH
was ''blown in' on speculative deals
she has advertised when the mediumi
has met with popular favor, she has;
aided railway and other enterprises
which seemed practicable and ready to,
materialize, but the city has no dead
capital invested in booming enterprises
The bonus system has never been pop
no subsidy for locating. and the policy
stated in hOmely phrase has been
EVERY TUB ON IT'S OWN BOTTOM.
This pla n, it may frankly be said. has
been matter of necessity. The CITY
is enterpriSing, but doing business al
most exclusively upon home capital,
made, and reinveSted upon the spot,
Aberdeen had, until recently, no sur
plus with which to encourage the Local.
ton OF industries however desirable.
This lack of capital, healthy as was the
influence, keenly as it has spurred indilI
vidnal effort and industry, has undoubt-
edly retarded the growth of the city!j
In some respects Aberdeen is behindl
her sister cities from this cause alone.
Enterprises requiring a considerable in
veStrnent were for a number of years.
beyond her reach. A few men of
wealth would have been boon to this
sELF-MADE CITY.
Capital would have fastened develop.
ment. The number of her business
blocks, the beauty of her streets, the ex-,
tent of her public improvements might
have been greater, had the means andl
leisure been at command. Yet Aber-l
deem lives, thrives and enlarges with
each month of the pregnant year.''t
Hostile criticism and spirit of rivalry
in other less fortunate towns finds food
for unfriendly comment in some of th8
rough and unfinished parts of her larga
but upon broad and
substantial foundation, stone by stona
rises the
sELF-BUILT STRUCTURE
of Aberdeen's prosperity. That the
work will go on, that a noble city will4
rise in the heart of the James valley
and keep full pace with the develop1
ment of the region, finds its best ASSURE
ance in the character of the men whot
laid the foundations and toiled tO1
swing the great trusses into place. To
the nerve. energy, enterprise and cons
servative Judgment of her citizens ABB
erdeen owes her present. That theyl
will take care of her future, pride. pub1'
lie spirit and a wholesome, self-interesf
make certain.
81.
BAD FOR THE G. o. r.