The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-07-01
SIZE UP SIOUX FALLS.
Mankato Doctors Tell OF the Divorce
Town in South Dakota.
From Mondays Daily.

/
Medical society, were very much i'm
pressed with the thoroughness of the
city's recovery from the losses it suf
fered in the hard times. During the
last Cleveland administration the city
lost about five thousand people. Trade
was almost at an absolute standstil
and the city seemed doomed. During
the worst period of depression Sioux
| Falls is said to have had less than half
the number of people she had just before
the financial crash of 1898. Today the
settlement seems to be booming. The
place now claims to have twelve thous-
and inhabitants. Business of all kinds
is brisk and the hotels are crowded
There is one very fine hotel in the
city which would compore favorably
with the Nicollet of Minneapolis. This is
the Cataract hotel, covering a space
lO0xl57 feet, and having five stories
and basement. This house has indeed
great capacity, and is always pretty
well filled. Yet there are other hotels
in the city, which compete with this and
get good share of the business too.
All this goes to show the vast throng
of corners and goers that pass through
the city every day. The development of
the northwest brings the urban accom-
modations, which Sious Falls offers, in
to great demand.
Railroads through Sioux Falls are of
course doing good business both in
passenger and freight traffic. Five lines
of railroad enter here, the Omaha, the
Illinois Central, the Milwaukee, the
Great Northern and the Burlington. Yet
the depot facilities are very poor. The
railroad companies will probably get
round to improve these by and by, if
the business keeps up as it is now and
has been.
For the very reason that so many
people are passing through the town
every day, there is another aspect in
which the city appears in far less
favorable light. There is no end of
grating and cheating. All kinds of
swindlers have their hooks, lines and
nets stationed in all public uplaces. There
are fake doctors, fake real estate agents,
fake stock brokers-in fact there is
scarcely type of people, who scheme
to get money out of other folks without
giving value received, that is not to be
found in Sioux Falls.
Sioux Falls has long been known as
divorce town. This is not so much the
case now as in earlier years, when the
laws were more lenient to wouldbe d.
vorces. Yet during those years very
large element of divorce seekers settled
here, and, as may well be imagined, such
people as a rule have proven by no
means the most orderly and law abiding
citizens
In such towns as Sioux Falls it does
not require so much responsibility
to have high recognition in society, as
it does farther east. Though it is not
absolutely true that "every door is bar.
red with gold and opens but to golden
keys" yet this is SO often the case that
casual observer, little pessimistical-
ly inclined, might be tempted to draw
some such general conclusion.
Sioux Falls may be properly desig.
mated as a "wide open town." Saloons
and dives there are certainly in the
greatest abundance. AS the doctors sal
in their place of meeting, loud talking
Indicative of nothing respectable was
heard in several nearby buildings.
The business of the city is well cen
tralized and there are some very good
sized buildings. One of them is nine
stories high. There are several build
ings of three and four stories going W
now. The residence portion of the city
is more spread out, and there are in
deed many very handsome dwellings.
There are no streets paved with as
phalt but two of them are improved
with the native Sioux Falls stone, cut
out in blocks, along which the heavy
wagons rattle with tremendous din. The
activity of the business of the tow1
brings telephones into great demand. The
Sioux Falls Telephone company has l.,
200 subscribers and the Northwestern
company has 60O
Sioux Falls is great jobbing center
Wholesale houses constitute the mail
business backbone of the community
The great growing west, particularly tn
Sioux River valley lying in the states o
Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota, i
to a greater or less extent tributary t.
Sioux Falls along the line of whole
sale supplies. Sioux Falls is in hot com
petition with the Twin Cities for muc
of this wholesale trade. A glance at tn
map will show that Sioux Falls is liabl
some time to endanger the interest o
\ Mankato, if she has not already done SC
Mankato, lying between the Twi
Cities and Sioux Falls should strike on
and get what territory she can to tn
habit of buying from her. There is n
reason why Mankato should not hersel
become a great jobbing center. Mankat
cannot afford to wait. With st. PAT
and Minneapolis to the east and Siou
Falls to the west, all hustling and GRASP
ing all they can, it behooves Mankato t
do her share of the grasping. VIVA