Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-01-04

The scene in a large marketing town in
these, winter days is most interesting;
AS soon as the farmers wagon or sled
comes to town it is hailed by the agents
OF the commission firms of Duluth and
Minnea!Alis They examine the wheat
Or they ask that the farmer consign his
grain to their firm at Duluth and take
his chances at the shift in the price. Or
the farmers sells his grain directly to the
elevator company and receives cash for
1t. There are six gigantic elevators here
and they are often filled. One of the un-
pleasant features of this marketing of
grain is the anxiety of the creditors.
One can see here daily merchants watch
ing each load of grain to see if its owner
is not debtor This arises from the ia
which will be explained hereafter. There
is much delay in getting enough cars to
haul the wheat, and these ears are Sc
fhis we n t Ese.s ss fa ears uf has
been very great. The farmerssWere afraid
that the high price would fall and they
wseat at to f paluth h has
held up well. they have Become more at
ease. But if the farmer has his wheat
little during the rest of the winter. This
is one of the unfortunate conditions of
this county. If wheat brings good price
and the farmers have plenty of it they
alone. This fact has made the Dakota
farmer somewhat too reliant on wheat,
and as a matter of fact only about six
months of the year is devoted to farm
work. There is in this county as yet
very little cattle or other kind of stock
rearing. and very few dairy. farms. In
During the most of the winter the farm
ers remain at home or go visiting friends
in other states, as many Canadians are
doing now.
The exemption laws, mentioned above.
are without doubt the cause of much of
the misery of the farmers of this section.
empt from seizure for debt, not including
a homestead, and man may have a
homestead of less than $4,000 exempt.
There is no doubt that these very high
man from the creditor but they have had
just the opposite effect. AS no property
can be seized, the man who wishes to
borrow money must give a mortgage on
his crop, his implements or his stock or
some other chattel. The rate of interest
is very high, often IL per cent. but it is a
fact that so much is lost by dishonest
debtors that these high rates are justiti-
able. The leading merchants of the state
are asking for a repeal of the high eX-
honor in place of any other form of Sc
curity. -.
out-doot sportss.sin the summer. The
summers here ale delightful, and they
are spent in, the open air. People, go
within 1e miles ofsthis village. and Yet
people E!ady s. il sESwd sn . % 3daf
bali are very popular. The summer
nights are very short, and one can in
June play tennis until 9.15 enc. sometimes
er Every lef Page ARE has s
games on the ice are featurAHsfn where
the great game of curling fS38ayednMs
The celebration of FourthVf JulSsGefe
last summer and every summer could not
do otherwise than amaze the stranger.
1t must be admitted that far more atten-
tion is given to the races, which always
accompany the day, than to the Grafton.
But the chief odd feature of the day is
the appearance of the streets. AS stated
above, this town has no grove and few
trees none at all in the business streets.
But the people are determined and the
evening before the day we celebrate"
wagons come from the timber 20 miles
saplings are sold to the merchants and
nailed to the sidewalks all along the
streets. thus giving the appearance of
street lined with young trees. OF course.
these saplings wither before the next day
but for that day, the town is filled with
an aroma of the forest.
Der, one could hardly say that the weather
of North Dakota is admirable. That
blizzard of Thanksgiving day of this year
was the worst in the history of the state
temperature of December has averaged
daily ten degrees higher than November.
To obtain an idea of the severity of the
weather in this state, one must forget the
thermometer. When the temperature is
very low, the air is still and one does not
feel the cold. The blizzard of 1896 oc-
Cured in u temperature of 10 above zero
and the storm did not abate until the
mercury had fallen to zero. The tenn
perature of 40 or so below zero is not at
all severe compared with 10 above zero,
when the wind is raging from the north
west. There is but one verdict as to the
three summer months, June, July and
August they are delightful. The mer-
curry did not rise above IS last summer:
The winter days are very clear and
bright. and it seems as if there are many
more mootlit nights than in the states to
the south.
One must not forget that this state has
the largest percentage of fOreign-born
citizens of any state in the Union. 90 per
cent. Nearly 20 per cent of the citizens
We're born in Norway. This county can
acter 1t has large numbers of French
Norwegians, Germans, Russians (Meno-
nites), Icelanders. Scotch and English
Campaigning in this county has its dis
Democratic. Though the Democratic ma
jority fell off very much this year,. and
the only Republican candidate elected to
Il county office is an Irishman from On
tario who speaks French.
North Dakota is this year proud of the
fact that. though inhabited by people
who are almost all in debt it is the only
state admitted with the other Western
Territories in 1889 which remained true
to the Republican party. and the only
state west of the Missouri which gave
decisive majority for sound money, ex-
cept the coast states of Oregon and Cali
fornia and the North Dakota majority,
$500 out of As 600 votes, is almost as credit
Basil Tracy. in Boston Transcript.