The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1902-01-10

resources ana possibilities. WI tn MrT
Amos Irish in the chair Ne started on
our trip of discovery. To take an earl,
advantage OF the two cent fare in the "
&. through the state we landed at De-
troit Geography does not give this ~
the oldest city founded by the French,
but it is old enough for our purpose
We took three cent street car fare
along the seven miles at river front g.
find it lined with shipyardS. docks, mills,
grain elevators, warehouses, etc. We
were informed her d, z,n lines of rail-
roads makes it an important railroad
center. Detroit is foe city: we need
not epumerate its strong points.
AS we passed the fine farms on our
way To the metropolis, Ne were reminded,
notw outstanding its many and varied
resources, Michigan is still consider
ed an agricultural state, wheat being its
staple, while the sugar beet is coming
into prominence; the fruit belt grows
wider each year, and the vineyards pro-
duce more wine, thus testing the pro-
ductiveness of variety of soils.
Lumber being second in value, we
find ourselves among the lumber camps
in the Saginaw valley. o. wonder of
wonders, behold the big men, big hors's s,
big trees and big mills, with machinery
to match; see the rivers filled with logs
to be fioated down to the place where
they can be sawed into lumber, | suppose,
or whatever they are for-there are mil
lions of them. Here We found Ralph
Connor's "Man from Glengarry," who
missed having a rich faLher-in law be-
cause they differed as to how honest a
man could be and be a success in trade.
Remembering the sequel to that little
difference, we were prepared to believe
all we were told about the output of
lumber from Michigan, which is the larg
est of any state. Then, first, she is val
ued for her agriculture, second for lum-
Der and third for her mineral. So to
the gypsum beds we go and watch the
manufacture of land plaster, then to the
salt wells, where the purest salt is made.
And now we view the great black chasms
where bituminous coal is imbedded
which has for centuries been waiting
for 10th century consumption.
But we hasten to the upper peninsula.
We visit the great iron tunnel, the larg
est in the world, they tell us, and cross
the strait of Mackinac on the largest
railroad ferry. Two famous canals there
are: wide and org aud deep. Before we
visit inland we take a trip up to Isle
Royale, which is a county set out in mid
lake, it would seem for some special pur-
pose. There we learned this was the
largest of two hundred islands within
Michigan waters large enough to be in
habited. To reach the mining country
and visit the bessemer steel works is
next on the program. Again we find
the man from Glengarry, who tells us
Michigan furnishes to the markets Of
the world not only more iron but bet
ter quality, as bessemer steel can only be
made from superior quality of iron; be
also told us the richest copper is found
here, besides gold, silver, lead and zinc
in paying quantities. The manufactures
of the state are too numerous to mention:
however we will mention the new silk
factory at Bedding. f. w. Howard,
general uperintendent, informed Us it
was only the day before New Years day.
they set in motion their new machinery
worth $4,000. We saw a web of %
yards of finest silk taken from the loom
The East India silk merchant will los g
some trade when the Bedding Bros Co.
get to running full force. For fear of
insufficient space we have only referred
to the big things within our borders,
leaving out rivers of fish, forests of game,
state institutions of learning and penal
service.
Ii there was room we would mention
the Beckwith stove works at Dowagiac
the furniture factories at Grand Rapids
and the Gretna Green at st. Joseph
Also the Picture rocks, equal in wonder
to the formations in the garden of the
Gods of Colorado. And last but not least
the status of woman in this great state
1t was said the late Lawyer Tryon of
Dowagiac had given as his opinion that
women here have the best legal rights
of any of the states. But her status
must rest on the kind of home she
makes, the kind of boys and girls who go
out from that home. AS wife and mother
she must stand or fall. The woman
with her patient endurance is back of
all enterprise. Then how stands the
woman of Michigan?
ONE WHO WAS THERE.