The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-05-03

OF Barnes county, North Da-
kota, is 297 miles from st. Paul
via the 500 line, and 3OS via the North
ern Pacific. The county has its name
from A. Fl. Barnes, territorial Judge
from 1873 to 1851 Wisconsin man.
who returned to that state after
eight years Of service on the bench.
The county contains forty-two con-
gressional townships of land. and the
Sheyenne river runs centrally across
1t from north to south. It is well cut
up, too, with railroads. The 500 runs
dlagonally across from the southeast
20 the northwest, and has fifty three
miles of main line and five miles Of
SIDE track and ten stations, while. the
Northern Pacific's main line runs
across the center from east to west.
thlrty-seven miles, and two branches.
nIty-tWo miles, one line north, and
the other east and west through the
southern tier of towns. having alto
gether eighteen stations, supplied with
fourteen miles of side tracks. In re-
spect TO shipping facilities, via two
great transcontinental lines, the coun-
~ IS well favored, no part being remote
service.
1t is to be remembered that this is
"
not long since buffalo were roaming at
Iree VIII where town lots are now stalk
ed out for sale. The early settlers
1ound profit in hauling the bones of
| these shaggy denizens Of the prairies
70 market, the hide hunters having
slaughtered them in countless numbers.
The railroads, too, found profit in car
rylng them away to Eastern factories,
the traff1e from North Dakota running
into thousands of cars Boys and
girls still in sehooh were born before
| the region known sass Barnes county
had a place on @he map. The railroad
was built through there in 1872, and a
mixed train went west one day and re-
turned east next day, if the weather
permitted.
What is now the thrifty city of VAL
ley City was at first a siding known
as the crossing of the Sheyenne.'' 1t
| was then called Wahpeton for a short
time, and following that Worthington,
and later the present name was select
ed by common consent. And the name
| is most appropriate, located as the city
is IN a pretty valley, surrounded by
| wooded hills, whose natural foliage is
CroWning ornament to the river
which hugs three sides of the corpora
lon. In natural amphitheater form
ed In the bluffs byssthis sweeping bend
In the Sheyenne river, Valley City has
a plcturesqueness rarely found in towns
OF the prairie states. With foresight
not usual in new communities, a
pretty bit of forest, now called Island
park, was early bought and improved
until now no town in the state can
| poaSt a more attractive resort. This
is only one example of the progressive
character of the community.
In 1880 there were less than 800 peo-
| pie in Valley City. Now there are over
I In nVsrsJ
! third city in the state. Believing in
municipal ownership, the city has its
I own water system and electric light
| plant, and both are operated at
| profit. The water is taken to a stand
[ pipe on the hill and given l2O=. feet
| gravity pressure, enough to carry it
! 10 the top of the highest buildings
| Many of ouro Western towns take >ad-
vantage of the fact that the prairie
! seems unlimited, or else speculation
becomes rife; and sprawl themselves
out ins widestt freedom over too large.
an area. Valley City happily. has
avoided this spreading habit, and a
more compact and substantial town
cannot besfoqnd in the state. This
| compactness allows the building Of
/ sidewalks, with well graded and we'll
| lighted streets between. The people,
too, have the tree-planting and tree
protecting habit, and about many of
| handsome
garden plots.
Valley City is surrounded by a very
| prosperous agricultural country, and
/ drawing trade as it does from an ex-
| tensiVe area, the mercantile concerns
are of an extensive character, some
| of them carrying stocks that would do
! credit to large cities. Valley City is
not a mere local town, solely depend
ent on local surroundings. On the
contrary it is an important center.
from which is distributed supplies
used over a wide stretch of country.
At the crossing of two rival transcon-
| tinental railways, 1T has advantages
not possible in towns without compe-
| t1tiOn In rates and accommodate lions. A
metropolitan spirit is shown in every
undertaking. It is the home town Of
| the most extensive flour milling inter-
est in the state. Hstbanks send money
| by hundreds of thousands of dollars
| to loan in the East.-Its schools attract
students from every part of the state,
the normal school having young peo-
| pie from no less than ten different
states. North Dakota has kept abreast
| of the times in education. In this par
| ticular Barnes county is strictly at the
front. The county contains 159
schools, and in NJ. w. Barnes the
county has a most efficient superin-
| tendent. He was the first to establish
/ pupils reading se circle. somewhat
| after the plan of the Chautauqua, and
several other counties have since
adopted it and other counties are ask
| ing his methods. He also introduced
a system Of giving attendance certif-
icates to pupils, which has been pro-
ductive Of good results. There are
ffty-two school libraries, and Arbor
day work shows 2,100 trees growing in
various school yards. The school
houses of the county have a value of
$207, APO, and the various districts
have $40,696 in cash standing to their
credit. There are 125 teachers en-
ployed, the average salary being $4442
a month. The enrolment shows the
names Of 1924 pupils, and ninety-four
school districts furnish free text books.
Mr.. Barnes is now serving his third
term, and should be kept in the place
just as long as he is willing to serve.
Barnes is one county of the state
that keeps up a crop record with the
counties of the Red river valley. II
produced last year 2,416,792 bushels OF
wheat, 1,S25,627 bushels of oats, 677,S1z
bushels of fax, 609,029 bushels of bar
ley, besides corn, rye, potatoes and
other products of the soil in handsome
quantities Is It any wonder that the
farmers fill the local banks so full OF
money that the bankers have to send ii
East to keep it in circulation? Only
four counties in the state exceed the $5,-
013.OS1 assessed valuation of real and
/ IN Dol OK