The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1896-03-27
LETTERS FROM THE Wet.

in November. Ammo Domini 1896.
LETTERS FROM THE WET.
ST. PAUL, March 18th, 1896.
DEAR ENoUIRER:-I have been riding
over the Wisconsin Central Railway to-
dav. having left Chicago last night at II
o'clock. | retired before the train started
and was more than Il hundred miles from
the Windy City, before | awoke. tn,
rumblng Of the cars did not disturb my
slumberS and | rested pleasantly until
morning. My journey during the fore
noon was through a lumber region. The
country was level and lowered with forests
of oak. birch, poplar and other declduous
trees But nearly everywhere these tor
ests have been in iureu by fires, and charred
dismantled trunks and stumps distigure the
landscape. The destruction and waste
must be immense, but, Judging from tho
millions of logs piled at the saw mills along
the railroad the numbering interests of this
section are vet in their infancy. The
cleared patches generally contain Il small
farm house and log barn, with Il few cat
tie and horses feeding at a straw rick. As
"a protection against the violent winds anC
cold. the dwellings have earth heaped u
around them, or are packed about witt
saw dust for four or five feet above ground
after the fashion of ice boxes. One habi
tation | noticed had big black bear tiet
at post, on duty as Il watch dog. Sever
al nationalitics are represented i'll the set
Elements. | first passed through German
localities next Polish and then Norwegian
At noon the train reached Chippewa Falls
"A town of about 10000 inhabitants, and al
the station | saw numbers of farmer:
dressed in homemade ovcrcoats of bea1
skin. But really they did not need then
as it was only about as cold there as it wa:
at home when left. and the sun was shin
ing brightly.
The soil through central Wisconsin i:
apparently very fertile, the stubble on The
fields indicating heavy crops of grain. The
few cattle | saw were good, showing {
mixture of Holstein blood. The winter
has been remarkably dry and failure il
crops this year is predicted, unless thu
spring rains shall furnish the needed mois
ture | was told at Stevens Point. 25t
miles north of Chicago, where | got break
fast. that the ground is as dry as dust fol
five feet down, and that the cold had beer
very intense during the past winter. The
streams are still icehOund but not more
than an inch of snow is on the fields anC
in some sections none. As am almost Il:
far north now rs | shall have to go | nope
| will not experience any severe weather
The remainder of my trip will be directly
West over the Northern Pacific Railway
and partly through the famous Red River
Valley.
St Paul is beautiful city. being BULL
on high bluffs, overlooking the river.
l -.
ago, and do not regret that my stop her,
will be for only half al hour. expect tc
reach Portland on Saturday evening.
DEAR ENQUIRER:-After leaving st
Paul on Wednesday afternoon | passeC
through the most magnificent agricultural
region my eye ever rested upon. and | have
seen some of the best in this country. The
sunset on the prairie was grand. Fol
nearly an hour after the orb of day had
disappeared below the horizon, a brilliant
column of light, like a distant fire, could
be seen in the West, and the clouds We're
tinted with gorgeous cOlOrs. There had
been a variety of weathe' during the after
noon-a veritable March day While |
was in St Paul it was alternately showing
and shining \ half hour later in Mime
apoliS Il terrific storm was raging, the
ground becoming covered with snow in a
few minutes. Suddenly the sun burst out
and was visible for the remainder of the
day We passed the Red River valley in
the night, and did not get a view of this
famous region. The territory traversed
during the following day contained Il mo-
notonous succession of small ranches, on
each of which herds of cattle were pickin .
grass from the exposed places on the snow
covered plains. The train crossed the
Missouri river in central Dakota in the
morning, and it took the remainder Of the
day to cover the western half of the state.
Occasionally Il small town and shipping
post was passed, and the small homes of
the farmers afforded about the only variety
OF scenery.
Among the paS>cn gers on my car was a
large cattle dealer from Montana. return
inc from Chicago. He told me that the
freight in stock from his region to the
great cattle market of the west is Sl15 per
car load each car carrying 20 or - head.
He had made a fortune in the business.
and is about to retire. Another man on
the train had just received an order to
supply Il FrcnChman owning Il .argc ranch
with 10000 COWS and calves. which will
be purchased in Utah and Idaho. asked
the probable cost of those and was told
that it would be about S24 for COW and calf
NV friend said there had been a great deal
more money in the business in former years
than there i now: that the margin for
profit is getting very small. | could not
help thinking that with our cheap lands in
Southern Maryland we ought to be able
to raise beef cattle successfully, and am
inclined to believe we would realize better
returns than from such extensive crop
pings.
Attached to this train is an observation
car, the private coach of the Railroad Of
ficials. which is being carried to Butte,
Montana, to convey to Chicago the actress
Corinne and her mother who is sick. 1t
is in charge of a colored porter who show
ed me through and allowed me to ride in
it for while. ltis a complete little home,
with Il kitchen and a cook, DRAWN ~-rOom,
bath and luxurious sleeping apartments
The porter told me that ii i rented at S5U
per day.
| mail this at Glen live Montana. and
our route hence for several hundred miles
is along the Yellowstone river. +. :.