Brookings register. (Brookings, S.D.) 1890-1894, 1891-01-02
THEN AND NOW.
Brief Writeup of the City Of Brook
ings as 1t Was Ten Years Ago
and Its Advancement.
1SsO---IS9O.
What the Pioneers Did During the Win
of 1901 and Belief Review of
Our Present Prosperity.
WINTER OF THE BIG BLOCKADE.

WINTER OF THE BIG BLOCKADE.
When one chances to speak OF the
winter of 1891, the early pioneers,
who were here at that time, are all
attention, but when we look back
over the ten years which have lapsed
since that time and compare this
thrifty city with the little hamlet 1T
was then, it seems almost impossible
that SO great an advancement could
be achieved by an inland, agricultural
town in so brief period.
1t Is little more than ten years ago
since the writer first stepped on South
Dakota soil. Coming from southern
Wisconsin, on the Northwestern rail-
way, to Brookings, just after the long
to remembered, October BLIZZARD"
armed with the full equipment of O.
"tender foot" and fully believing that
every body here we're wild and woolly,"
AS BROOKINGs WAS THEN.
! At that time the buildings, all told,
did not number over thirty five. The
railroad was fighting the town. All
the surrounding towns were fighting
the poor little CRIPPLE" and, let me
tell you, they were making it hard
shedding" for Brookings, and had it not
been tor the indumitable will OF such
men as, las. Hauxhurst, j. f.
Diamond, J. OBJ. Scobey, X. H.
Williams, H. H. Natwick, Geo. More
house, w. II. Roddle, w. H. Skinner,
A. j. Dox, and others, here at that
time, this now beautiful city would
have been in the "Siouxp.'
After the October blizzard came, the
snow melted off, excepting in places
where large drifts occurred, and quite
q NUMBER OF the farmers plowed up
the small patches of ground on their
! claims, which had been titled during
the summer. The latter part of Jan
uary, trains were blockaded by snow,
and after several attemps to clear the
track, all work was abandoned. The
pioneers were in a poor condition to
be left without railroad communica-
tion with the east. Fuel became
scarce in q few weeks. Flour soon
"piayed out" and the landlords, as
well as private citizens, were obliged
to adopt peculiar methods, to supply
the needs of those depending upon
them for subsistence. Families
doubled up" and used the strictest
economy to weather through. kero-
sene oil, coffee, tea, sugar and other
necessities, were things only to be talked
about-not realities.
Did we have meat? Oh, yes, once
in a great while. You see, the snow
was only three and one-balt feet deep
on the level, but Ben Roddle useI to
go out in the country, buy somebody 2
off OK (no questions asked as to its
age or previous condition), then he
would kill the animal, shoulder hall the
carcass and return to town. When
that was gone, if the weather would
permit, he went after the remaining
hall. There were many days, how
ever, when we had mo meat for din
ner."
Butter? Well, yes-that is-well
nearly erybody lived in sod shanties
or houses covered with tar paper. and
we could tell what kind OF house
the farmer lived in, by thesmell OF the
butter he brought in, you know. Nc
eggs, no potatoes, no lard, no fruit
and worst OF all, no tobacco for the
inveterates. Plenty OF whiskey. And
by the way, it seems strange how thai
whiskey held out-some OF fthe "boys'
declared that was where all th'
. tobacco and drugs went.
r As we said before, the flour "playeC
out" and everybody became Italian'
that is, they learned how to turi
the crank-of the coffee mill. Who'll
families are known to have subsistet
of OF graham ground in the coffe
mill-when one mill gave out anothe
was purchased; or they borrowed tn
neighbor's.
We wonder if John E. Diamond RI
members how he had q water.elm ire
brought down in front OF the buildin
now occupied by Mrs. Berg, and ho'
he did the woodman act on that tree
Il while his young bride sat at the wiz
: dow cheering him on. Speaking {
water.em reminds us how our land
lord undertook to burn the stuff, t,
cook q meal with. He opened tn
side door of the stove, stuck one en-
of the wood In and left the other en-
sticking out, then placed q pan t
catch the water as it dripped from tn
end that was not in the stove. Afte
putting out the fire several times, b
threw the wood out doors and tol
! p. c. johnson and your humb
servant that we must seek otht
quarters, as he was out OF wood an
almost out OF -four. Those were cru
ID words, but G. G. Rude kindly too