The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1905-06-23
MINNESoTA'S PLEASURES.
M. J. Donnelly Discourses on the
Health and Varie1 Pleasure
Resorts of the State.


st. Paul, June 19.-It often hap
pens that the chief glories of great
state are ebscured in the fame which
attaches to some particular institu-
ton of the state. Minnesota has never
lacked appreciation outside her bor-
ders. People the world over know
that Minnesota is the great wheat
state of the world; that her flour out
put is the largest; that her mines
ship more ore than all the other iron
mines in the world that her great
port city of Duluth ships more COM
merce by many million tons than any
other port in the civilized world.
All these things are vital and i'm
portant and make for the prosperity
pople But back of these great in
dustrial achievements, back OF the
very spirit which throbs through
them and makes them possible, is
the states natural environment, In
which must be sought those deeper
and more significant things which in
sure the pleasure and the happiness
and the health of the people, upon
which their prosperity is built.
The last vital statistics OF the
world gave Minnesota's capital city
the lowest death rate of any city in
the civilized world, and the death
rate of the entire state is exception
ally low.
In climate, in natural beauty, in
the wealth of lake and forest and
wandering stream, in beautiful Sc
Guided garden spots of earth unmo-
Tested by the devices of man, Min
nesota ranks among the very first
states in the union. 1t is this natural
endowment which has made for prog
ress in the vast departments of ply
steal endeavor.
There are ten thousand lakes in
Minnesota That of itself is worthy
of reflection. Over half of them are
natural summer resorts, and in
limited way are recognized and used
as such. Minnesota's natural park
region, that northern portion of the
state in which are located expansive
lakes, immense forests and big game,
is larger in area than the combined
states of Vermont, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, Connecticut and
Rhode Island.
In this country you will find hun
dreds of men and women who have
come to renew health and strength
in this life giving region. Thousands
of sportsmen from other states have
long recognized that Minnesota of
fers opportunities to the hunter and
fisher such as few states in the union
afford. Many others have come many
miles to spend their summers here
because from experience they know
that Nature is seen at ner best in
this wondrous cline.
But it is only few who know
this. The time is not far distant
when people who now go to Europe
in quest of health or recreation will
come to this great wilderness of
sparkling lakes, whispering forests
and majestic parks.
Minnesota's climate is the one
thing of which the native Minnesotan
most boasts. Weather reports for
many years show an average of more
than one hundred sixty sunny days
in every year. The annual mean
temperature for the past seventy-five
years has been forty-Ioar degrees,
and the average summer tempera-
ture has been little over seventy.
The states average altitude is 1000
feet, which, with it's magnificent nat
ural drainage system furnished by
three rivers, insures a healthy climate
the year around.
Visitors to Minnesota are impressed
by the fact that, on the hottest days
in the summer when the thermome-
ter rises above 80 the excessive heat
is always tempered by cooling
breezes. The nights are always cool
and comfortable, however hot the day.
In the middle of the summer it is
estimated that there are two hours
more sunshine every day in Mime
sofa than in the latitude of Cincin-
natl.
The unusual dryness of the air, de-
spite generous precipitation, makes
the winters free from the rigors of
other climates where the thermome-
ter never falls so low.
The rainfall for many years has
averaged thirty inches for the entire
state.
The prairie area of the state is 49,
900 square miles and the forest area
is $4,000 square miles.
TO describe one-tenth of the sum
mer resorts in the state would re-
ouire a volume. ALI over the north
ern section of the state beautiful
lakes abound. Every railroad winds
past hundreds of lake resorts. Every
few miles through the northern coun-
try one comes upon lake surround
ed by magnificent forest crowned
hills. He who loves solitude can Sc
lect his own summer resort in Min
nesota and revel in seclusion.
Upon the north shore of Lake SUI
perior are many beautiful, delightful
locations and here, in the years to
come, will be found some of the most
famous summer resorts in the middle
west.
Red Lake is the largest lake in the
state. At the source of the Mississ-
ippi river we find Leech Lake with
over two hundred square miles OF
area, Cass Lake, almost as large, Lake
Winnibigoshish, Mile Laos, Vermil-
lion and others less notable, though
no less beautiful
These lakes, for the most part, are
in secluded hooks, away from the
rush of civilization, surrounded by the
most primeval conditions, but it is
an easy matter to arrange for all the
comforts that one needs in out door
life.