The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-02-28

hoTc 1 dln. nearly UnOuSanQ miles
from home, and five Thousand one
hundred and seventy feet above tide
water; in sight of Pixies Peak and
the crests Of 1.-The Rockies" and in
the midst Of one Of the greatest sill
yer and gold producing regions on
the planet. 1t occurs to me that our
large family Of the REPRESENTA-
TIVE" might be pleased to have my
impressions of this interesting coun-
try.
THE GREAT PLAIN.
l expected to find Denver, like
Butte, Helena, Deadwood, ETC., right
in and on top of the mountains: but.
the contrary in the case: it is on a
great fiat which ascends gradually
from the Missouri river, rising by
imperceptible degrees, during the
distance Of about six hundred miles,
until the plain is a mile above the
sea; while to the west and north
stretches the great mountain chain,
the backbone of the continent, two
to three miles in elevation.
The plain between Omaha and
Denver is of yellow clay, a so-called
glacial formation. When we have
advanced two or three hundred miles
west of the Missouri, we see very few
signs OF agriculture, strictly so-called
but herds of cattle surround good
looking farm-houses and huge stacks
OF hay loom up here and there, show
ing that the dependence of the set
tiers is mainly upon stock-raising
HINT TO MINNESOTA FARMERS.
Gov. Waite gave me some curious
information. He said that in west
ern Nebraska and in Colorado the
farmers found that, in consequence
of the dry climate, they could not
raise corn in the usual fashion, hilled
above the level of the ground. 1t oc-
Cured to some ingenious philosopher
that the top Of the ground dried out
first: and that planting corn in the
usual fashion was simply giving the
moisture an extra good chance to go
off into The arid air. And so he
ploughed deep trench and planted
his corn in the bottom of the trench.
1t worked like a charm: the other
farmers followed suit and now they
are raising good crops on soil that
heretofore would raise nothing with
out irrigation. In western MinneSO-
ta, where the farmers often lose a
large part Of the return for their la
Dor, in consequence of drought, some
experiments might be made, on a
small scale. to test this thing. Man
can only triumph over nature by ac-
cOmmodating himself to nature
Half way across the Dakotas the
"rainless belt" begins, and western
Minnesota is sort of border land,
where rain and drought fight for vic
tory, with varying fortunes.
DENVER
Denver far surpassed my eXpecta-
tions. It is magnificent city. The
streets are wide and clean; electric
lines are on all the main avenues.
The town, being neighbor to the
mountains, has fine variety OF
building stones, of many cOlOrs.
There are no frame hOuses;-im-
mense ediices, eight and ten stories
high, encounter you everywhere. The
shops are equal to those of St. Paul,
and Minneapolis or even Chicago.
You feel as if you we're east of the
Ohio. There is no frontier look, nc
cowboy aspect. The people all ap.
pear well-dressed, bright, intelligent,
energetic. The sunshine streams out
of the usually unclouded sky making
everything gay. The air you breathe
is light, dry, ETHEREAL Everything is
surcharged with electricity. You
touch iron and spark, half an inch
long, flies out, and you draw back as.
tonished. There are some nervous
constitutions which cannot endure
these conditions-they develope "St
Vitu's dance" and other nervous de-
rangements. And few miles from
here, as far above Denver as Denver
is above the sea, is Leadville, 10000
feet high, where the noses Of the
new comers bleed, on account of the
withdrawn burden of the atmosphere
and people with weak hearts kee
over and give up the ghost, without
"a moments warning. AS good a way
to die as to rot piecemeal.
| CYCLONES.
l asked several well-informed per
sons whether they ever had cyclones
in Colorado. The reply was-no. YET
this whole vast table land, and these
mountain ranges, are full of electric
Iity,-full to overflowing; and thu
cyclone is an electrical phenomenon
Why then no cyclones? The answer
is plain. The mountains act as great
lightning-rods to draw the surplus