The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1891-11-12
DULUTH LETTER,
Union Special Correspondence.

DULUTH, NlNN., NON. ~, 1901.
The young Duluth is this year grow
inc more ambitious than ever. Her
people now feel more than ever that
they are to see their city grow into q
great commercial port and one that
will gather about the hills and plains
that ornament her a population that
will make Duluth one OF the great cities
of the country. Several things have
transpired this year to create this con-
fidence, above and beyond the facts and
circumstances previously existing. All
along Duluthians have pointed out to
the stranger the wealth of iron lying
in and under the hills of st. Louis and
adjoining counties, the vast forests only
waiting the woodman' ak and the mill,
and the almost unlimited stretches Of
wheat and other lands which had made
the great interior Northwest-that
Northwest upon which Duluth places
all her dependence of commercial pros
perity. Some Of these new facts have
been the large crops of wheat and other
grains which are finding a market
more generally than ever on the Du-
luth board of trade and are fast filling
the elevators at the head of Lake SUI
perior; the rapid growth of the export
trade, foreign merchants now dealing
directly with Duluth grain men where
they formerly bought through New
York or Chicago houses; the wonderful
prosperity of the newly established
milling industry; the increase of job
bling interests, and more than all, the
change of front by some of the north
western railroads, when they showed
by their new grain tariffs that they
must make the head of navigation their
chief objective point. The country
we'll knows and understands the Mil
waul1ee & ST. Paul and Minneapolis &
Pacific tariff sheets which put the same
rates in force to Duluth as to Minneap-
oils, and farmers understand the ad-
vantage that change has been to them.
Duluth is to-day on a more solid foot
ing than ever before, and even to a
resident the great changes of few
years are continual wonder. When
the writer first saw Duluth in 1882, it
was an overgrown village, made up of a
multitude of poor frame houses, one or
two elevators, decayed docks, muddy
streets, a bare hill front that looked as
ugly and unpromising as the rocky New
Hampshire mountain farm in Sol Smith
Russell's new play Of Peaceful Val
ley" where the COWS and the sheep
were tied down to keep them from
slipping over into the neighbours corn
field below. The only things of beauty
were Chester Creek and Miller's Creek,
two lovely and picturesque streams
which now form so delightful a part of
the city's park system, and then ran
free in all their natural attractiveness.
How changed the place is to-day.
Here are now $4,000 people, then Du-
luth had a population of 5000, nearly
all lumbermen and tradesmen, though
there was board of trade of seven or
eight members who met half an hour a
day and almost regularly adjourned
without a transaction. I remember
that the official circular of these DAYS
had uniform style Of reporting the
markets ''buyers and sellers apart y
Then the grain receipts ran too, ZOO, 600
bushels for the year; for the present
year they will 60 to 100000 and for
the crop year from 100000 to 5O,OOO,-
900 bushels. For the past ten weeks
they have been 100000 bushels.
''ASh oAAOio "O1C CWO clSVdUOrS zone
unfinished), now the capacity of eleva-
tors at the head of the lake is &c, 900. DOC
bushels. Then there were no -four
mills; now Duluth mills grind 6.OO(
barrels daily. Then the annual ton.
mage OF the port was less than O.OO(
tons; now it is 100000 tons and the
arrival and departure of great steamers
this month will be over 500. Their
there were but two railroads here; now
there are eight, and this year they will
bring here over 1900, 100000 pounds o.
freight; three passenger trains arrived
daily and as many departed, now, in.
Guiding short line trains, over 100 come
into and 60 out of the union depot
every tWenty-four hours, CARRYING
1900 passengers. There was no lob
bing business then, but this year it will
amount to about 25,OOO,OOO. No mines
had resounded to the stroke of the
miners blow, now a capital of $4,000.
600 is invested in Duluth's iron ranges
5000 men are employed there and
100000 tons Of iron ore are taken out
f eVery year. Duluth had M o,,5