The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-01-12
ALL THE GREAT RAILROADS ARE
CROWDED WITH BUSINESS.
Last Year Was = Successful One, Hut
the Present IL Expected to Equal
It-Crowds of lmmixrants Prcpar-
ing to Come in the spring.

made upon all the trunk lines for the past
year have taxed their resources to the
utmost, and It has required all the STRAIT
egg of their managers, at times, to nan
die the business. That the volume Of BUSH
ness, both prospective and present VIII
lead them to construct new lines and feed
ers, there is no possible doubt, though
none Of the men at the head Of any OF the
systems is willing to make such an ad-
mission at the present time.
I'VE have had an unprecedentedly good
year" said President Mellen, Of the
Northern Pacific. 1.-THE business has been
satisfactory. emnently SO. Whether 1t
will continue right along no one can say.
Last years crop was good one, and 1t
has been keeping us busy to move 1t. We
are still working on 1t. Our road is
wheat-carrying road. II the crops next
year are as good as they were this, we
shall have all the business we can ham
die. 1t Is still three months to seeding
time. SO II is not possible to make any
predictions"
Flood of Immigration.
Third Vice President J. M. Hannaford,
Of the Northern Pacific, was in a most
optimistic frame of mind. Il have been
connected with the Northern Pacific for
the past twenty-seven years." said he.
land l regard its prospects today as the
brightest they have ever been. There is
a great flood of immigration all along our
line, and any one can see that 1t means
more business for our road. We have got
to carry what they raise to the markets.
and bring them the products of the fac
tories. The more settlers the more crops
to export and the products to import.
That looks logical, and II seems to be
conclusion from which 1t is not easy to
escape.
ITO illustrate: what say, let me give
you a single instance. Next spring at
least 1900 families will move into North
Dakota alone, and settle along our line
We know, because they have already been
and in some cases have done a portion
OF the springs blowing, or built houses.
They have gone back to their old homes
to winter, but they will be on hand early
in the, spring. The demand for land is
steady Nand good. Sales are being made
every day, not for speculative purposes.
but Tor actual Improvement
Our immigrants come mainly from
Ohio, Kansas, Wisconsin and Illinois, and
they are very superior class of people.
For the most part they are American
born, though probably a majority of them
are Of foreign extraction. They are men
who settled In these older states at an
early day and have acquired compe-
tence. When they moved to the farms
they now occupy land was cheap AS the
state became settled up their lands have
appreciated in value sufficient to make
them small fortunes, and they are now
selling out and reinvesting in the hope of
turning another addition to their accumu-
idtlOus. .
1.-THE land OH which they are living now
is worth, say. $50 per acre. They are SELL
ing this and buying land at s. per acre
The man who has 100 acres in Iowa or
Ohio can sell 1t and with the money pur-
chase five times as much in North Da-
kota. This is what they are doing. None
spring has bought less than 160 acres and
not few have purchased whole section
What have said Of North Dakota applies
with equal force to Washington, and
though in less degree. to Idaho.
Increased Wheat Acreage.
"These immigrants will raise wheat and
fax. Three thousand new farms mean a
large increase in productive acreage, and 1t
els raised will be correspondingly aug
mented. Quite large number of settlers
are going down into. the southwestern
counties. where the land is not so well
going to devote themselves to raising
stock and to diversified farming, for
which both the soil and the climate are
favorable. They will make money, too,
and it will be but a few years before
those who are prudent and good man
ayers will be as well fixed as necessary.
1.-THE acreage of wheat next year will
be considerably in excess of this year, IL
/ may Judge by the preparations that
have already been made. The farmers
have not been slow to take advantage of
the extraordinary weather this fall, and
If the land on which it is now their in
tention to SOW wheat is all devoted to that
be greater than last year. There is no
reason why the influx of settlers should
stop SO long as there is an acre unoccu-
pied in the state. In many respects the
state is an excellent one in which to live
There are but two seasons-summer and
winter-the former so very warm that a
crop of wheat can be raised in ninety
days. and the latter not any colder than
the winters to which many of the in
habitants of states farther south are
accustomed.
SIN Montana there is considerable i'm
migration into the Gallatn and Bitter
Root valleys. The inhabitants there,
however. devote their attention to raising
they find a ready market in the great
mining towns of the state.
Future Is Promising.
"Out in Washington. conditions similar
to those in North Dakota prevail We
ley, on irrigated land, colony of Dunk
ards. which is doing well, and to which
we hope to make a considerable addition
branch of the Northern Pacific are num-
Der of colonies made up almost entirely
of this sect, and they are proving an eX-
cellent class of settlers.
with the extinction Of the forests of
Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. the
lumber on the Pacific coast is becoming a
source of traffic that promises at no dis
tant day to become merely a question of
equipment. Our shipments at present
average about $500 cars of lumber and
SnlnBleS per month, or 3O,0UO cars per
year. All Of this Is eastern-bound traf-
fic. Westward the growing trade with
the Orient Is assuming gigantic proper
lions, and this loads our cars that are
westward bound All of this is practi-
cally new business. and it is growing
heavier every day.
Summing up the situation. I can feel
nothing but optimism of the most cheer
full sort over the outlook. Business is
being created all along the line. What
is true. of our road, is also true. of the
Great Northern and the 500. We are
all opening up new and productive terri
tory, and the settlers are flocking in
They make business for us both ways
The lumber of Washington loads our
trains East. and the products of our mills
and factories fiji the ones West. Some
years will naturally be better than Tiers:
the railroads are the first to feel :ha ef-
fects of a crop failure, but these, happily,
are not of frequent occurrence in the
country through which our road runs
In short the business of the roads is in
n most satisfactory condition, and the