The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-08

When Hennepin padded down the I'LL
nois river until he reached the place
where now stands the city Of ST. Louis
and then, turning northward, drove his
canoes to the Falls Of st. Anthony, or
somewhere midway between the present
cities of st. Paul and Minneapolis, he
made prophetic journey; for that part
Of the Mississippi river drains what Is
now the most imperial portion Of North
America That journey in a mystic
sense stands also for many things Of
the spirit; for through the ideas and as
pirattons of the people the track Of his
canoe Is one of the base lines of civiliza-
ton, from which the future history Of
the world will be measured When he
paused where the Twin Cities now stand,
he could not measure, even in thought,
the country of which they are the COM
mercial and intellectual capital. In the
deep shades Of pine forests far to the
north out of It's lake springs whose
crystal waters were disturbed only by
the wing of the wild fowl, the great riv-
er has its modest beginning; and, flow
| ing gently down through a country OF
mingled forest and prairie, jeweled with
a thousand lakes, it rolls over the Falls
| of ST. Anthony with an almost unlimited
capacity for labor in the service Of
man. If the voyager had found 10000
| horses, harnessed and equipped for work,
and offered as gift to the settler, it
| would have been princely; but these
| 90, coo water horses are never hungry or
tired, and they rush on forever, eager
| to do mans work
When Napoleon sold the territory Of
Louisiana to the United States for $15.-
100000 he did not realize the commercial
possibilities of the tract. Three months
output of flour at the Falls Of st. An
| thony is equal in value to the purchase
price Of the entire territory; or the lum-
Der product of single year would pay
the bill. That far-seeing man builded
better than he knew when he doubled
the power of the predicted rival to
Great Britain by the transfer of the Mis-
sissippi valley to the United States
through Jefferson and Monroe. The
boundaries of Louisiana, narrowed as
they were at the mouth Of the river by
the precise limits Of the Spanish terri
tories on either side, stretched west
ward at the north for full thousand
miles; and Of this northern part of the
purchase Of 1903, the Twin Cities are
| the commercial capital. When it is
| considered that this part Of the pur-
chase alone is richer and Of greater
area than the whole Of the thirteen
original states of the Union, it will be
seen that we are now looking at the
place where history is being made.
At the head of navigation on the Mis-
sissippi, and near to the great lakes
whose gateway is watched over by their
daughter, Duluth, st. Paul and Mime
apolis have all the conditions which
nature uses to compel the creation Of a
| great railway center, with it's accom-
panying manufactures and commerce.
| Not alone large part Of the Louisiana
| purchase, but a portion Of the Original
| Northwest Territory as well Is tributary
| to these cities. Besides the vast forests
| Of pine and hardwoods, the finest wheat
country on earth, unmeasured grazing
resources, these ATTITUDES hold the rich
iron deposits Of the North. and the vast
| mining regions Of the West directly trib-
utary. Then stretching up to the north
west for 1000 miles into the British pos
sessions, embracing a region Of unex-
ampled fertility, an empire, such as IS
found at the feet Of no other city in the
world, finds in the Twin Cities the easies,
market and the most available source
of supplies. With such a commercial
background, the remarkable develop.
ment of the past fifty years finds al
least partial explanation.
st. Paul and Minneapolis are two cor.
porations, but the municipalities are
separated only by an imaginary line they
really constitute one city. They are MOI
divided as are New York and Brooklyn
The combined population of the Twir
Cities is not far from 100000. souls. They
employ about $4,000 persons in the va
rious manufactures, and the yearly out
bling trade amounts to $500, 900 900 annu
ally. There are about SIS, 100000 of CAPT
tai and deposits in the banks, and the