The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1896-02-26
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county. Tower is the geographical
center. The valley Of the Little
Forks comprises some of the most
fertile land in this country. principal.
ly vacant government land, and offers
greater inducements to farmers than
any other district 1 know Of. But we
cannot reach these lands over stones
and stumps, and that is why we want
these bonds issued. 1t is said that
the railroads and mining companies
do not favor the measure, but l think
their opposition will be merely
negative. 1t will become the Duluth
& Iron Range, which has land grant
of 10000 acres in this country, or the
Duluth, Missabe & Northern, which
received gift Of S25O,OOO cash, to
raise any opposition.
Mr.. Owens speech was heartily ap-
plauded, and the chairman then in
troduced e. G. Gridley, of Duluth, as
one who has done more to bring st.
Louis county to the notice of the
world than any other man in it. Mr..
Gridley stated that he firmly believed
certain lines of farming would pay in
this county. II was educated for the
bar" he said, "but happily reformed
and some years ago engaged in stock
raising in Northwestern Iowa. 1t is
a beautiful country, and destined
some day to be great, but one draw
back is that it takes several years to
make raw prairie good agricultural
land. Here the moment the land is
cleared it is productive. The fuel
bill is heavy expense in Iowa, while
it makes ones heart ache sometimes
to see the timber wasted here. l
have done some experimenting on the
Mesaba range of late years, and found
that by draining and burning over
our muskeag swamps, timothy can be
sowed in the ashes and 1T will yield a
splendid crop of two tons per acre.
[ believe the finest meadows on the
continent can be made of the swamps
of this and the adjoining counties.
In Illinois the farmers who, years ago,
located on the swamps thought to be
worthless, have distanced their broth
rem of the prairies and are the richest
farmers in the st tie. can remember
when Southern Minnesota was a para
disc and the northern portion OF the
state was thought to be no good.
Now five of our townships are worth
more in natural wealth than all the
rest of the state.
'Today Duluth imports from out
side the county 80 per cent of the
garden truck it consumes, and poor,
wilted stuff at that. Yet 1 defy any
man within sound of my voice to
prove he has seen better truck than
that raised here and exhibited at our
county fair. Let us look forward a
few years and see what will be the
extent OF our home market. We are
getting from $1.25 to $3.50 per ton for
our iron ore and shipping it to the
Pennsylvania manufacturers, who
work it and receive from $12 to $3.50
per ton for the finished product. The
people of this state pay more for
articles of iron than they receive for
the ore mined here, but this condition
cannot long continue. / predicted
that within the next three years there
will be more manufacturing industries
established in this county than the
numbers we now have, and that in
side of six years Duluth will have
more steel and iron works than any
other city in the country. The popu.
lation at the head of the lakes will
double in the next thirty months and
keep on increasing for many years to
come. Now are we going to raise a
large portion of the food these people
will consume, or shall we continue to
pay tribute for the withered stuff
that is shipped in? / believe that
for fishing, scenery and climate, il
facilities are offered for enjoying them
no place on the continent could equal
Tower. l think this will be the
finest summer resort on the continent,
but you must work to attain it, and
work Systematically. What would
not Chicago give il she could have
Lake Vermilion within twenty-five
miles of her border.?'
Col. Gridley's address was received
with great applause, and at its con-
clusion the chairman announced that
i meeting for permanent organization