Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-01-31

POSTMASTER GENERAL JAMES is now
the head of the great safe deposit com
pany in whose vaults are stored the
plates and jewels of the Astors and the
yanderbilts. There, too, are the bonds
and securities of the Lorillards, the GER
tificates of the Standard Oil magnates,
and the deeds of many of the Western
bonanza kings. ~ fancy" says writer
who recently peeped into the vaults of
the company "that not one man out of
thousand has any conception of the treas
ure here concealed. Battered trunks. tin
boxes, old barrels and a Thousand other
receptacles, duly labeled and addressed,
stand high as the ceiling Cd every hand,
each one containing a fabulous fortune
itself"
THE GREATER HALF OF THE CONTINENT.
Erastus Wilman, in the last number of
the North American Review, in an article
entitled "The Greater Half of the Cont
nent," presents an array of facts in re
gard TO Canada and her resources which
will come home TO many readers as
genuine surprise. The United States has
been so self-con scious that it has ,arcely
noticed it's neighbors. But now, as
there are 'ecided indications of an incipi-
ent Irritation between Uncle Sam and his
cold but fair Northern neighbor, it
is matter of interesting gossip
TO consider what dowry the COW charm
or, with the snowfakes in her hair,
can bring her sutton as the reward of his
wooing. As dependents of Uncle Sam,
we are all interested in this matter, even
if the courtship does not result in a mar
riage or even an eng age ment, or is broken
off in pet before the critical question is
popped. Canada is not a country, as
many suppose, where the ground never
thaws out, and with climate which is
survival of the glacial period. Some
part of its territory is at least 500 miles
further south thai. the extreme northern
limit of the United States. Quebec and
Montreal are nearer the equator than
parts of Minnesota and Dakota.
The province of Ontario and Que
bee liz the main possess a climate and
soil especially conducive to the produc-
ton of good crops and as perfect men
physically and intellectually as the limi-
tations of human nature will permit. Mr.
Wilman says: "Perhaps the best test of
IL -, u ia ha Ill
ty to produce in the largest quantities
and of the best quality, the most valuable
and the most universally used article in
commerce. Certainly in this re-
spect there is nothing surpas-
sing the article of wheat, which may
be said to be the basis of civilized exist
ence." Now wheat grows with almost
weed-like luxuriance over a large extent
of Canadian soil. The average yield in
Manitoba in 1887 was 80 bushels to the
acre; in Minnesota and Dakota for the
same year, it was only Is bushels. So it
seems that bread, the friend of man, the
the usefulest gift of the gods, finds its
chief ingredient growing most vigorous
iy in the northern soil of Canada. But
the vast wheat fields of Canada are as yet
nnplowed. Here are vast alluvial expan
ses with the bread of future nations in
sheir bosom, that for the next 80 years
would resent fertilizer almost as much
rs high spirited man would would re-
sent an insult. The soil of some parts of
Manitoba would make excellent manure
for some parts of New England. The
forests of Canada can furnish timber for
another century. Some of these mighty
forests are SO remote that they have
never yet heard the sound of an axe or
the music of the CROSS cut saw. They
contain the germ and promise of a thou
sand future milIionaires. For when the
locomotive scares away the moose
from these untraveled regions, it
will open up highway to un-
told wealth and resources. Canada
at the present moment is help
lessly involved in the national mind with
fish. And indeed her fishery resources
nlS oc hhiiLAAbcO oS bnc lGISS
oceans that wash her shores. If animal
life should perish from the earth, Can.
ada could supply the markets of the
earth with the flesh or. fish. The mineral
resources of Canada are unlimited, iron,
copper and silver are found in unusual
quantities and the gold deposits of British
Columbia are sure before long TO produce
another migration to the Pacific
coast that will rival the outpour to Cali
foruia in 1S49. So if Uncle Sam and
Canada do not decide on a wedding, lie
there be the most unrestrained amity be-
tween the two. In other words, if it
seems desirable that no political union
should be offered at present, it is appar
emit to both sides that q commercial unien
would be of the highest mutual advan
tage. Of course Uncle Sam and Canada
will marry some time; but in the mean
time let them live on as good terms as
possihls during the long courtshi