St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-10-13

Of the same epidemic since, and In yery
recent years, with the same symptoms, |
the same developments and the same |
results. The records of the registry
Offices for those years are rich with !
| the Edens of tue land specula-
tors. Broad acres that now produce
excellent yields of cereals were
then plated into cities, and the guIlibls
Easterner was begulled of his money by
gaudlly painted maps of the cities, /
showing churches and schools and pub
lie buildings, railroads and waterways. /
Men lost their good sense then as they
have since, and thousand or two dol
lars were asked and paid for a single
lot of sixth of an acre, which is today
| about the value of the farm Of
which the lot forms a part. But
while ruin came to most of th6
mere spectators, and of the fab
RIGS of their eXuberant lmaginations
| nothing remains but the musty and neg
lected plats repOsing amid accum ulatingi
cohwebs in the vaults of the I'd 4str5
offices. there were pouring into the new
! state men who knew that getting some
| thing for nothing was precarious VENT
ture for ones time and money, and who
bent their energies to opening farms.
fist along the valleys OF the rivers, and
| later pushing beyond to tine prairies Of
! the table lands, thus laying the founda-
tlons OF the state OH an enduring basis.
EARLY TRANsPoRTA TIoN.
But as the settlements penetrated the
interior they left behind them the water
ways which were the outlets to the
larger markets of the produce of the
farms. As late as 1858 the writer recalls
the long caravans of teams III owing from
the prairie farms of what is now Mower
county, carrying their wheat to the
thriving villages on the Mississippi.
Three, four and five days were used in
making these trips. The feed for men
and teams was carried along, and the
nights were spent in bivouac at some
point where water was to be had for the
animals ana wood for the fires of the
cooks. Often these long lines of wheat
laden wagons, focusing In the narrow
street OF some river town, with Its four
or hye warehouses, pressed the facilt-
ties of the latter so hard that day or
more had TO be spent by tile rear wagons
in awaiting their turn to be unloaded.
Later. In response 70 the Imperative
needs OF the advancing farmers. came
the railroads, and with their adve mt
went the business and the glory of most
OF the villages which once entertained,
not unfOunded, ambitions OF future
greatness.
But the enterprise that destroyed one
pro missing town created many others,
and, If some wealth was lost, vastly
more was produced as the railroads
penetrated the interior and made profta-
bic the development of farms which
were before so distant from markets
that the value of their produce was
consumed in its transport to the point OF
sale. The fame of the rich lands spread
beyond the borders of our own nation, and
all the nations OF Europe joined with
the sons of the Eastern states OF our
Union in swelling this great tide of
population, which in SO marvelously
short time converted the trackless
prairies into cultivated fields. They
came from "the land of the midnight
sum-" aud sunny Italy is represented
among our people. Scandinavians and
Germans, Poles and Hungarans. Firms
and Austrians. Swiss and Spaniards,
French and Irish, Scotch and English
mngle in common citizenship and
make the state cosmopolitan.
In the various departments of this
worlds exhibition is our display of
products. We show there what our
fields yield; what our mines give forth;
nm p p, iaId
and rivers provide for mans susie
nance. 1t Is our mission to tell some
thing OF our growth and of what we
have to offer those who are seeking
places where the conditions of life are
easier aud the opportunities Tor "get<
ting on Ill the world" are plentier.
GETTING HOMES.
Minnesota offers ample means for
gratifying that first and worthy impulse
of men to provide homes for themselves
and families, Within her borders are
wide areas yet of land belonging to the
nation to be had almost for the asking,
of the federal government. OF the
princely domain which has been grant,
ed to the railways to aid in their con-
str uctiou there remain millions of acres
to be had OH favorable terms.
Our villages offer the inducements
of schools. churches and cheap lots for
baildiug sites. while many of the more
progressive of them provide water sup
plies and gas or electric lights. OF the
SO. 900. .051 acres Of land in the state, the
acreage In crop in 1890 was 6,474.659,
showing. after making all due allow
ances for the non-arable land of the
state. what abundant room for popula-
ton still remains open. and what an