New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-19


o,, sr.yF CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRiBcNE'I
c.n.,,,h, H., 1880 By the Ns,c-York Tribune
Fargo. North Dakota, May o.
49,. u,.,, eouys the famous Red River OF
A.. North East of it, in Minnesota twenty
M nnd v,est NJ IT, in Dakota, forty miles, arc
Roc a, hills running parallel with each otiei on"
the river, and marking in Outline an ~ .,' nortb
h,s;n Of 10000 square miles. Wheh ti,e COZ. CO..
o'si" " 49, ,vise mon say, these hills were
az har,,s 10 a great inland lake, when eAIs''"
sar;no many centuries, and was finally ur"in'o
IN ,brough the Red by a slow and oehoer", .
80 7, loft n heavy, black alluvial deposit
tro,n ,,ro IN six feet deep, TO oeconic nv 90
HoD 1850 ,,oIlcv in which to-day, though
et,h ~ Il Is in use 35,O0O,OOo ousheH
- -. sixtieth of the worlds crop Is "u'
ur.lly nroduced. In Dakota there are SIN Nc"
o. a,r,Ios They contain 1925 OF the lV'ooo
nrare miles which compose the Nai'!'
y. 80, ,ba river in Minnesota. iinit the weaIh
:, So-,h Dakota reposes in this valley. llali 'Io
,oxos that support the State are coiiec'eo n''o
~. d. R,ycr Is regarded by Dakotans as q
"a Majestic stream In the East it would
- oo,lod n creek; in the South " branch" Inns
,r,,.,rot.s how everything is or is not according
- .ornarison. heard much OF the jim Jd'er
hotorn 7 saw it, that it was 800 miles long ana
,ho Ets Of Central Dakota, and when at hSt
NV eyes beheld it, l was filled with emouoh'
fcIl,w with good supple legs can Jump across IL
limos. anywhere from its source to It's mouth
p,,.,s are scarce in Dakota, and they make the
noe. NJ them Earth, however, is PLENTIFUL anu
~ aquatic measurements seem scant, noth'hg can
h. aid to all notions Of distance by land IL
.. told Of an Eastern man that he advertised
to exchange some country property about Huron
for city property in Huron, and receiving several
answers he came out 10 investigate them. one
nj his correspondents met him at the station
with a wagon and suggested that they drive TO
leek At their respective properties They pro-
ceeded some five miles from the city ana the
Huron man checked his horses. Here he Saio
"are my lots, right in the heart OF the town,
as you observe. Now, where's the country prop
erty you want TO dispose of?'
1--WE passed it three or four miles back on the
road answered the amazed NewEngIandcr.
What extraordinary notions of distance you peo-
pie have out here!"
pair Of ponies educated in this western
cbuntry would feel mortified ut being brought
back 10 their stable before they Ind gone AT
least fifty miles, and II YOU will let them, they
will keep up a steady cantcr all day, without
thinking they've done anything 10 boast OIL
While over on the Missouri, heard OF queer
match of land called Hclls Half Acre, some sixty
miles from the town ! was visiting. was toft
the earth was on fire; that there was deposit
OF some hgnitic substance which had been hreo
ny spontaneous combustion last winter anu had
been burning since; that there was no feGcta'
ton within half mile OF the affected spot that
IL gsvc forth a light smoke during the day and
PRODUCED faint glow Mt night / expressed some
a. and an
friend offered TO put pair of mules and pair
of monies to his sulky and draw me over.
We Y5cu., end besides seeing IIelrs Half Acre, I
lea:i Il -. the things that a combination Of
mule and pony in harness can do to the human
system. The fire appeared 10 be on the surface
OF the ground burning downward. IL produced
liaht ashes and bard cindPrs. What the con-
tustible substance was, nobody thc-cabouts was
geological enough 10 say but IL would seem 10 DE
"a very soft coal more recent in its formation
than the coal Of the carbonifcrOus period, lor
in the examination that had been made thought
could detect vegetable matter in an early s'u2e
of its conversion into mineral coal The IRE "Ieh
discovered had already spread over about Hhit
an acre OF ground, beyond which II mas not sliIce
gone It's force is diminishing and, OF course,
as it becomes covered with the ashes ana clh-
ders, il must die ont. Our team OF mulcs anu
ponies performed their journey in fifteen hours,
affording LIS time TO investigate Hells Half Acre,
to chase a jack rabbit, TO shoot three Win
chickens and 20 make the acquaintanc" OF
colony OF prairie dogs. The prairie dog is
strange being: strange in the class Of creatures
he keeps around him, strange In the social ea-
quette he so carefully observes, and particularly
strange in the use he makes OF his tail. would
give a good deal TO have q litte COnvcrsation
with him; TO ask him, for instance, why he al
ways gives his short, stiff, stubbv, little tai
a jerk when he barkS. Nothing could be fun
nier than 70 200 or 800 of these little Great
ures, looking Just like miniature knnGar0os,
with their eyes sparkling and their ears cooked
up sitting each over hole in the ground, bark
ing away as II their very lives depended on
their giving so many barkS per minute, with
q prize for the one who should beat the record,
while their tails go up and down, up and down.
with certainty and apidity that could not lie
better attained were there an electrical c0nnec-
ton between tail and throat They evidently
possess a great talent for seeing fun. They
take a heerful view OF life The difference
between them as they scamper and play, roll.
ing over one another in the merriest kind OF
sport and the stiff, fluffy, sober, htte owls who
Dive with them, scarcely ever moving from
cept when they give themselves a sudden lift
and then drop back into their notes.-the differ
ence is so wide that you wonder what sort Of
q social relation it is that exists between them
The owls seem 10 have nothing TO do with the
dogs, merely blinking at them now ard then in
a solemn way My own opinion is that the
owls possess scme kind of sacerdotal function.
The colony usually contains as many as 1900
and the town is built in an arc perhaps an
eighth OF q mile in circumference. As soon
rs you come within sight, every dog springs to
bis particular hole and stands over il barking
fes dear life. When you approach within GER
tain distance all the dogs in that ncighbor-
hood, or ward so TO speak, pop under the
ground, leaving only the sentinel dog on guard.
He goes on barking until you get within pis-
Il - = a. L.. LL.. THO