The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-06
LUCKY 1T WAS A DRY STATE,
SAID "A MARYLANDER WHO SAW
33 SELF-BINDING REAPERS in
ONE FIELD.
LATCH STRING WAS TALKAr1vE.
Everywhere 1t Extended n Cordial
Greeting to the Members of the
Visiting Party.

ing from a trip through the Red river
valley. The hairs of some OF the "boys"
were frosted by the SHOWS of many
winters, and some of the girls" have
daughters, yes, and granddaughter,
out on THIS outing of the National
armers' congress they were all young
again, IN happy companionship amid
the novel scenes of the great farming
center of the Northwest.
1t was a lovely trip The neop,e
along the road were just as nice as
they cou Id be-" Its n magnificent
country" 81 never saw better farmin.,
land anywhere''-these were few of
tne feminine and masculine comments
as the party trooped through the depot
ana haStened to their respective hotels
for much needed rest Eacn and every
one of them reports a delightful trip
ana expresses thanks to the Great
Northern management. which provided
1t. In summarizing :he excursion, Sec
rotary J. M. Stahl said:
We had a magnificent trip and en-
Joyed every minute of the time. and
language fails us whe2 we attempt to
say nice things enough about it. We
were handsomely treated by the Great
Northern company; the train service
was splendid, and there Was room for
every one. The train employees were
very attentive, while Mr.. Whitney, the
general passenger agent, accompanied
US and saw to it that we were all COM
Portable. 1t was a matter of his per-
sonal solicitude. I am certain that
there is not an eXcursionist who does
not feel grateful to him for the trip
and for the interest he took in looking
after his guests. In behalf Of every
one in the party 1 would like to thank
the Great Northern for the pleasure
it has given us, and the big-hearted
and companionable passenger agent
for his courtesies.
l went through that section of the
country ten years ago, and the change
since that time is very marked Then
the land under cultivation was a very
small part of it; ii was mostly all
prairie grass Then there was hardly
a brick building in Fargo or any of
those cities, while two-story frame
structures were so infrequent they
were conspicuous. Now all those cities
are metropolitan in appearance and
have practically all the conveniences of
the largest cities in the country 1 was
surprised on this trip by the substan-
tial character of the cities and appear
ance of the business blocks, and what
particularly struck me was the very
intelligent and prosperous appearing
lot Of people.
The business depression seems to be
a thing of the past in that part of the
country, and the people have a very
marked buoyant and hopeful feeling,
and think they have good grounds
for it. The Northwest is in a much
more prosperous condition today than
my own state, Illinois.
L was impressed with the fact that
the Red river valley is a valley of
homes. Ten years ago one could see at
a distance little frame shanties; now it
is thickly dotted with neat, substantial
houses. In the next place, there is the
number of school houses and churches.
The American people are a nation of
home getters, and as long as a majority
of them own their homes or are work.
ing to get them, and send out from
them children to attend the schools and
churches, [ believe our institutions
are safe and refuse to listen to calam-
ity howlers.
"Of course, back of all this is very
states east of the Rocky mountains
very thoroughly, and with all due re-
gard to my own state, l must say I
never saw more attractive farming
land than on this trip. With such a
soil and an energetic and intelligent
population, 1t is not strange to an
American that in ten years the famous
Red River valley should be filled with
happy homes and dotted with cities.
1--WE were treated with great consid-
Grafton all along the line, and, had time
permitted the people would have given
US carriage rides at every station At
Fargo there was an entertainment and
reception, all the more enjoyable be-
cause thoroughly informal. The citi-
zens also gave us a carriage ride
around the city. At Grand Forks we
again had a carriage ride by courtesy
of the citizens, and bicycles were fur
nished to those who wanted to use
them At Mayville an elegant dinner
was served u.s."
President Clayton is equally enthu-
siastic over the hospitality of the peo-
pie of the Northwest. Said he: L am
afraid that great many of us will
want to move out here and settle in
such a good neighborhood. The trip
was a revelation to most of us; we had
no idea of the wonderful resources of
the Northwest OF course, we had all
read and heard of the land of gold
golden grain 1 mean-but the reallza-
ton was far in advance of anything
we had anticipated"
what impressed me the most, SAID
F. e. Ives, of Michigan, "was to see
seven, eight or nine self-binders at
every farm house. and some of the
houses seemed so small they didn t
look to be worth what one or the ma
chimes cost" :.
Eyes. that struck me forcibly too"
chimed in James Lee. ON one farm
there were thirty-three binders. 1 sup
pose when get back to Maryland and
fell that the folks will hardly believe
me If they didn't know that North
Dakota was a dry state, they might
suspect that my ability to see straight
was impaired"
Nothing was too good for us along
the line" remarked D. G. Pope, Of
furnished us with sandwiches and
milk, and hearty spread awaited us
at every stopping point. At Mayville
the citizens did themselves proud, and.
not only was the town decorated, but
an elaborate dinner was ready for us.
watermelon being included on the bill
of fare, while ON every street corner
stood a barrel of lemonade"
TT seemed funny to me-" said Q. e.
Kittenger, of South Dakota, '.to see
them binding wheat Out in our state
they simply use a header, cutting oil
the heads and leaving the straw
standing. Threshing is going -on in
many places, but there is lot of
wheat not yet cut.
The congress will hold its final SEES
sion at the capitol this morning, con
yening at 9 o'clock, and considerable
important business, such as naming
on executive committee to serve tor
tba ensuing wear. remains to be trans