The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-11-12
Westward HOl

lfhhE, o. ~, OClODer ~, 1871.
Mr.. Editor In accordance with your re-
quest ON my departure from Montpelier, to
" Let MS hear from YOU" | will give YOU a
few hastily written notes made on my Jour
ney. Leaving the old accustomed route of
the Central Vermont and Grand Trunk
and the more circuitous route of the New
York Central and Michigan Central for
Chicago, took the Montpelier and Wells
River road at | 10 p. NJ. Making close con-
uectons at Wuodsville with the Montreal
express on the Passumpsc division of the
Boston and Maine road, ! arrived at
Montreal al o'clock p. NJ. After good
nights rest AT the Albion hotel, kept by two
Americans, | boarded the St. Paul through
express over the s. 500 Line" with no
change of cars from Boston to st. Paul The
sleepers are built and controlled by the rail
road company; are neat tasty, roomy and
very pleasant. The meals served on dining
cars are too appetizing for a person with
only the exercise of riding. The road-bed
is remarkably smooth and all the appoint
ments cosmopolitan, making the trip a
pleasant surprise to me. The country
through which we passed is comparatively
new, although the soil seems good. From
Sault Ste Marie through northern Michigan
and Wisconsin it is strictly lumber and
mining district. AS one gentleman re-
marked, " The woods are full of lumbermen
and miners" Minneapolis growth and
general appearance far surpassed my eXpec-
tatiOnS. In 1882 at the time of my first
visit, 1t contained but about 5000 inhabi.
tantS. The late census gives the city 160,-
600 and st. Paul about 10000 less
\ drive over Minneapolis shows
growth on the outskirts which is surprls-
ing. Business blocks have sprung up in
about the same ratio, one of which, the
Guaranty Loan building, is marvel of mod
ern architecture, it being of stone and
pressed brick, twelve stories high and still
above that an observatory fifty feet high,
from the top of which the eye rests on "a
panaroma of buildings extending for miles
in every direction. On the roof is a literal
flower garden in summer, where band con-
certS are regularly held evenings and fine
meals served. Electric and horse car lines
stretching out into what was only prairie
country few years ago, along which are
nice residences which Boston or New York
might envy. The manufacturing on st.
Anthony's Falls is immense. The lumber
mills are supplied from the pineries for
three hundred miles above. The logs are
tiOated down the Mississippi and caught
just above the city by the d" Boom Com
pany," which asserts them-each log bear
ing the mark of its owner-and guides them
into the boom of their respective owners.
In the mill log is rapidly passed through
the slabbing saw, then a gang" saw or
saws, some sixteen or twenty in number,
having lightning-like perpendicular mo-
ton. One passage of the carriage through
the gang" cuts all the logs on it into
boards or plank according as the saws are
arranged. When the logs are small, several
are placed abreast on the carriage and others
still ON top of them. The slabs are manu-
featured into lath. Nothing but the saw
dust and the smallest bits of wood are al
lowed to 20 to waste. In the passage of the
lumber through the mill, no piece is ever
raised by manual strength, being passed
along through the different stages by and
on movable rollers On the Falls are stu-
ated the large Touring mills of Mime
apolis, of which we have all heard so much,
one of which, Pillsbury \, >" manufactures
seven thousand barrels of flour per day.
The barrels also are manufactured in the
mill. Connecting with the mills are miles
of side-track literally covered with cars
filled with wheat To be unloaded or with
flour and feed to be shipped away.
st. Paul, too, shows remarkable growth.
Large business blocks which would do
credit to any eastern city are seen on all
the business streets. Street car lines, cable
and electric, stretch out for a distance of
from four to seven miles in all directions,
ana line Is in process of construction con-
Meeting st. Paul aud Minneapolis, although
there are two steam lines at present. From
st. Paul my route was via the Chicago &
Northwestern railroad, through a beautiful
rolling prairie country, dotted with villages
between which are farms, or ranches on
which are buildings varying in size from
the smallest western " shack to the two
story painted New England looking house
y
when not threshed, and the winter supply
OF hay. In the fields are large herds of cat
tie. The soil is as tine and as productive as
can be found except on the bottom lands of
the Missouri, free from stones and produc-
tive beyond the need of fertilizers The
only serious drawback is the lack of rain
fall a strong effort is being made to in
duce the government to sink artesian wells
and create artificial ponds and small lakes,
rs has been done on small scale by pri-
waite enterprise, with the expectation that
these, in connection with the stirring and
cultivation of the soil and the growth of
trees, will induce a greater rainfall. The
question which seems most to interest the
people of South Dakota just now is the per.
manent location of the capital, to be de-
cided by popular vote on November 4. The
only cities in the contest are Huron and
Pierre, each claiming its advantages. AS
our train neared Huron, the cry was Keen
your eye ON Huron -; as we approached
Pierre, it was " Pierre, the peerless, for the
capital" In fact, the fight has been so Sc
we're that it has been injurious to business
Yours truly, A. o. CUMMINs
Pierre, the peerless" won the fight
EDITOR