The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1903-01-15
ON THE BANKS OF THE WABASH:

What G. w. Harter Saw on a Trip Back
to his Old Home in Indiana-Indiana
and Minnesota Compared.
G. w. Harter who went back to his
old home in Indiana and spent two
weeks, says "the old place amt what
it used to be'' and that many, many
changes have taken place in the thirty
six years he has been away from the
old home, which is located in Miami
county south of the city of Peru, in the
Wabash valley that has been made
famous in song and story by the gifted
writer's of the Hoosier state. Mr..
Harter says that the only thing that
was left standing that he recognized as
an old landmark was single mill
that looked as familiar as ever and the
minute he got his eyes on it his old
childhood days came back to him with
a vivid recollection. He saw remnants
here and there of old buildings, but
most everything was new. He went
out into the old apple orchards of his
fathers and his grandfather's and
there were some of the old trees that
he climbed when he was a boy, and he
ate apples from the trees in his grand
fathers old orchard. Much of the tim
Der has been cut off but there still re-
mains many of the old patches of tim
Der, and the stately sicamores looked
the same as of yore. The farmers in
that section are located in the natural
gas belt and most of the farm houses
are provided with gas which is used
for both heating and cooking purposes.
Gas wells are to be seen in all direc-
tions and the gas is conducted along
the highways in eight-inch pipes and
the side or feed pipes are from two to
four inches in size and are run right up
into the houses and into the cooking
and heating stoves and fire places. The
gas does not cost much and he said that
in the home of William Saxton, brother
of James and Robert Saxton, there are
four stoves and that the gas bill last
year was only 1872. There is an odor to
be noticed in the houses where gas is
used but one gets used to it, and it is
said that the gas damages the furniture
some, otherwise it is all right.
Farm land son the banks of the
Wabash" is worth at the present time
all the way fran 800 to 1925 per acre.
But the Indiana farmer is making
money with land at that price, as he
raises corn, hogs and cattle principally,
and corn yields $50 to ITS baskets to the
acre. MIR. Harter says that the Indiana
horses are the finest he ever saw.
Farmers are all prosperous and doing
well. William Saxton who has farm
OF l6O acres made last year over and
above all his expenses the sum OF
1880, and this is about an average
earning for farm of that size. Farm
ers are going out of fruit raising and
are doing little to keep up the indus
try, though here and there some are
paying attention to it.
But Mr.. Harter says that while the
Indiana farmer is prosperous and well
to do, he is not as we'll off as the Min.
nesota farmer in the potato belt. They
can raise corn and live stock in Indiana
but they can't raise potatoes nor spring
wheat, not can the climate of Indiana
hold candle to that of Minnesota. A
farmer in the potato belt of Minnesota
is much better off than is the Indiana
farmer and Mr.. Harter said that if be
owed an Indiana farm to-day he would
sell it at once and invest the money in
land in the vicinity Of Princeton which
has Just commenced to enhance in value
and will in a few years be worth Just
as much as the best Wabash valley land
IS to-day. The old Indiana farmers dc
not like to have their sons leave for
this country as they say they never
come back and that is saying much for