The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-28

numerous places the St. CroiX's bluffs
 were covered by fine specimens oi
 Norway pine, and, when work on the
 drive was a trihe slack, we just went
 logging on our own scale. In fact al
 times-this is between you and me anc the gate post we let the jams take
 care of themselves. People of a phil
 anthropic turn of mind might suppose
 that we did this logging for the benefit
 of our company. If they do they are laboring under a deluslon.
 Nearly every driver had a register
 ed brand, and when we felled tree
 and sawed it into logs, the ones who
 did the work branded their logs and ! rolled them into the river. Upon
 reaching Saltwater, our logs were sort
 ed, and we received the market price
 for them, less the amount charged for
 driving. In this manner l received a
 little more than $500 during one
 cruise, in addition to my regular sala-
 ", which was small as compared with
 the former. Some received more and
 others less. But it's no joke to say that
 those were palmy times"
 | However these ''palmy" deals as re-
 lated by the old driver were petty af-
 fairs as compared with other logging
 ''tranSa ctions" that took place in the earlier days. Large tracts of Govern
 ment land were stripped of nearly every tree valuable for lumber Who did it?' the question is asked, and the answer echoes. "WhoY Sus- picions can be formed. but they do not go in court. Those who know will not tell, and those who would make It interesting for the guilty parties can not get evidence to convict That is how the matter rests to-day.
 It cannot be denied, however, that parties have infringed on Uncle Sans rights in a very unjust manner. One striking instance to illustrate this fact is as follows: A lumberman purchased forty acres of timber land in Burnett County, Wis, but neglected to survey 1t, and the consequence was that, through his forgetfulness, his work men stripped piece of timber seven miles long by one wide Of course this wasn't his fault!
 Stripping a section of land, when one buys a forty-acre tract, has been common occurrence, and is tolerated to a greater or less extent but such colos- sal steals bring forth murmurs from the citizens generally. It must be stat ed, though that these cases were ex- captions to the general rule-and it can be truthfuly said that nearly all of the lumbermen have dealt in fair and legitimate manner.
 In the early days it was an easy task to amass a small fortune in the lumber business, if one had a little capital and understood his business. Owing to that fact a large number of men took ad- vantage of the opportunity and are to- day financially independent.
 Because of it's many rapids and treacherous rocks. the St. Croix River is not a navigable stream; but it must not be supposed that it's mission for good will be ended when the lumberman's axe ceases to move. Far from it, indeed Its usefulness will last as long as it con- tinues to flow.
 The St. Croix is one of the greatest | powers in America to-day. It contains | an immense volume of water, fed by | large, rapid-fowing tributari- l es and has a fall that gives it an extra | ordinary rapid current. When this l power is fully utilized, as it will be in . the not very distant future, 1t will | electrify the adjacent territory in the | two States which it separates in more ways than one. It will operate mills | and factories, whose magnitude will equal the lumber industry. The re- sources are endless, and all that is first required capital to start the ball a-roll ing, after which the dividends cannot fail to be satisfactory to every one in- terested in the development of this sec- tion
 Copper has been discovered at sever al points along the St. Croix, and the for its banning out are en- both on the Minnesota and Wisconsin sides. Two shafts are now being sunk six miles northwest of Wis, but the work Is con lucted in primitive way, and needs capitalists to push it along.
 And SO, while the forests are disap bearing, the good people who are set ling upon these "sashings' fully real ze and have just reason to feel proud If the great possibilities.~-T St. Paul Minn.) Dispatch.