St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-10-17


golden ears of corn. To completely
describe the palace would exhaust
the entire space of this paper. very
imperfect outline has been given; 1T
must be seen to be appreciated.
Agricultural Exhibits.
The floor space of the building,
5000 square feet, contains a choice
exhibit of the products of the soil IN
Iowa, Nebraska and Dakota, besides
creditable display from some OF the
Southern states. Among the mon
strosities were a 135-pound pump
kin, 26-pound mangel wurtzel beet
and an apple 16A inches in circum-
ference. These figures are just as
given by the exhibitors and were not
accompanied by affidavits. Occa-
sionally one meets in his travels a
westerner whose ideas on agriculture
are somewhat enlarged. l found
such a man in George T. Williams of
Ida Grove, Ia. In showing me
around the palace he casually men
toned that he had raised an ear of
corn that was 51a feet long and
weighed Sc pounds. He hoped
would tell my Eastern friends about
it and also send him a paper. |
promised to do both and he went on
his way rejoicing. Later l saw his
product which consisted of large
wooden framework ingeniously COW
cred with split ears of corn. | regret
to state that Mr.. Williams is an edi-
tor
The Freedom of the City
was given our party and hacks,
horse cars and other conveniences
were at our disposal without money
and without price. The mayor, Mr..
Garretson and Judge Allison put rs
minutes work into every hour and
made arrangements for many
pleasant excursions and sightseeing
trips. Thursday night 146 covers
were laid for banquet at Hotel Car
retson and after an elaborate menu
Mayor Cleland opened the speech
making with a few well-chosen words
of welcome. President Whittemore
responded for the Eastern party.
The other New England speakers
were ]. F. c. Hyde, Editors Atkins
and Pitman, ]. ]. Eddy and w. H.
Themes, both of Boston. One of the
Western speakers alluded to the muir
der of Rev. Mr.. Haddock and said
that as a result of this crime the Sa-
looms and the saloon element in poll
tics had been entirely driven out of
Sioux City. Calls for a speech from
Mr.. Garretson were fruitless, and af-
ter giving three cheers for that mod
est man the banqueters went home.
Facts and Figures about Sioux City.
In 1855, Horace Bacon, now living
in Lawrence, Mass, laid out Sioux
City and built the first saw mill. In
1880 the population was 1900; in
1884, $4,000; in 1888, 10000; to.
day it is about 40, 900 Many things
have contributed to this rapid but
steady growth. Six great Western
railway systems have come here, to-
gether with large manufactures.
Sioux City ranks fifth in the packing
industry of our country, having three
packing houses with daily capacity
of 200 hogs and 1000 beeves. 1t
has - newspapers, including four
dailies; 43 churches; Al school
houses; 10 banks with a capital of
So, 100000; 80 miles of cable and
horse car lines; a perfect system of
waterwOrks and sewerage. The real
estate transactions for 1888 amount
ed to nearly six million dollars and
in the first four months of 1889 to
So, 22S, 1876. In 1883 nearly 1000
homes were built in the city limits
Over 100000 was spent in i'm
prOvements and new buildings last
year, over one-half that amount be-
ing public and municipal improve
mentS.
The Utopian vision of the univer-
sal brotherhood Of man finds its ex-
emplifcation here. The growth of
the city is accounted for by Mayor
Cleland in this way: mo matter"
he said, ''how much our citizens differ
in politics, religion or temperance,
they are all united in any plan to
further Sioux City's interests" One
illustration of this is seen in the mat
ter of pavements. To open up new
streets for residences the streets were
paved with cedar blocks and the
abutters assessed for the cost of the
work. The abutters paid one-fifth
in cash within 90 days and the bal
ance i'll instruments in two, four, six
and eight years. The property own
ers raised no objections to this
plan as all were ready to lend a
hand in any public improvements.
The assessed valuation of the city
is SIG, 100000 of which $14, 100000 |
is on real estate This, according to |
valuation of nearly $4,000, 900. |
The city's debt is $4S5, 900. Many
of the best business blocks have been
erected by Eastern capital at an ex-
pense of 100000 apiece or even
more. The city presents a substan-
tial look and its steady growth is |
assured 1t has had a glorious rec
ord in the past and its future is most |
promising Men of Sioux City, go |
on. No people ever lost their liber- |
ties who had a corn palace 200 feet !
high.
Acres of Corn Fields.
BY chartering a special train on |
Friday MIR. Garretson took the party |
81 miles down the Missouri valley,
one of the most fertile corn sections
in the United States. For 80 miles |
the railroad runs through corn fields |
that extend each side of the track to
the foot hills three to six miles away.
Here the average yield this year will |
be 70 bushels to the acre, which is
probably 20 bushels more than in
the whole state, owing to the
drought. One Sioux City capitalist
has 10000 acres of corn here, but
most of the land is owned by farmers
in quarter sections of 16O acres each
The corn is sold for 20 cents bushel |
and the average cash income from
such farms was given by the farmers
themselves as $500 a year. Upon