davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-02

trative center of Barotsland, dis
tance of 100 miles. The line to Kaloma
is now practically being operated and
trains are ready to be run from Cape
Town to the center of the Barotse coun-
try. Next spring, when the line to
Kaloma is in full operation, the ques-.
ton Of the further extension Of the
railway toward Tanganyika will be dis
cussed.
The English in opening South Africa
have realized that the greatest need Of
the. country is an increased white popu-
lation, and in order to induce colonists
to go there have offered free grants of
land of 160 acres each to bonafde set
tiers all along the territory tapped by
the Cape to Cairo railway. No grant Of
LAND will be s more than three EN- miles dis
being carried out from Bulawayo to the
Zambesi, and will 60 as far beyond as
the railway extends. The soil is very
fertile, the best-paying products being
cotton and tobacco.
Other railroads will follow the con-
struction Of this first thru line in Afri-
ca. The government Of Soudan has
already undertaken, at cost of $780,
600, the construction Of the Suakim-
Berber railway, which is to have a
length of 332 miles, and will probably
be in operation during the early part
of next year. ~.
Another great railway project origi-
mated wit the khedive Of Egypt. It
is a line toward the frontier of Tripoli,
and the first steps have been taken in
the work by ordering 10000 tons of
steel. The road will follow the present
Mariout line for the first part Of the
route. The decision of the khedive to
construct railway to Tripoi, following
as it does so closely after the opening
of the Cape to Cairo line, marks an
event of great Importance in the his
tory of the development of Egypt as d
railroad center, forming an outlet for
the vast resources Of equatorial Africa
The immense extent Of territory in
Africa controlled by civilized nations
will be realized when it is known that
more than :l0,5oo,0oo square miles are
held by different countries, only 1900,
900 square miles being unappropriated
The population in this great territory
is 100, $4,000. The major part Of thi'
population is composed of the native
negro tribes, altho in the civilized sec
tions the white man is rapidly en-
The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-02
A PATIENT TRAVELLER
Steve sloop Stood by the Gate Five
Hours to Avoid Missing His Train.
isvilIe Courier-Journal.

Louisville Courier-J ournal.
Dressed in pair of jeans, Jacket
of the same material and straw hat
of an ancient design, and "a circum-
ference of brim that made him look
oddly like matched hut, and holding
tightly clutched in his right hand
shiny valise of the same decade as the
hat, while he gripped in the other
his ticket, Steve Sloop of Hagan, Va,
stood at the gate of the train shed at
the Seventh street station five hours
Saturday night waiting for the Hender-
son Route train to st. Louis.
Shortly before 5 o'clock he accosted
the train; but more particularly he
asked directions about getting to it,
as he scanned the impossible extent
of iron fence. The policeman directed
him in these matters and told him the
train would start at 9 o clock. There
upon Steve Sloop took up his post with
his ticket ready for the gate tender,
and the minutes multiplied into hours.
while crowds came. and went, and the
policeman and attaches of the sta
tion actually became bone weary watch
ing the traveller maintaining his soli-
tary vigil.
But Steve Sloop never relaxed and
apparently his patience and physical
endurance were each equal to the strain,
for he turned a smiling countenance to
all who spoke to him. frequently he
attracted the attention of a crowd Of
passengers. AS the time for their re-
spective trains approached they would
line up behind Steve Sloop with their
tickets in their hands, wait five or ten
minutes and then turn away in disgust.
| "I lost my hat hurrying to a train
| yesterday said the patient one, 5and
I did not have time to pick it up. SO |
had to take this one from one Of the
men at,the station. I'm going to be on
hand this time. and I don It mind wait
ing, as I don't know anybody here to
talk to anyway
It was Steve Sloop's luck that the
train was trifle late in starting.
The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-02
INVESTIGATING. PUBLIC
UTILITIES. IN NORWA Y
7IDo NeU Workers After Information Bearing Public
Observation-Disclosures Sells Her Streetcar System
After Operating at a Loss Confirmation and Mou-
ing Doy-The Sars Banquet.
BY M. ALGER.

ceive up-to-date information on these
vital points. Er
1 think, however, that both will stand
for private ownership in preference to
state and municipal, if their views are
not changed by their visits to the other
European countries. IL
Confirmation and Moving Day.
In Norway where the Lutheran creed
is the state religion, confirmation is
matter of course with all the young
people at the age Of Is or 16. In the
rural districts confirmation is held only
once a year-in the spring-but in the
in the fall. In Christiania the two first
Sundays in the month of October are
always devoted to this ceremony, as
the number of candidates is too large to
be handled in one day: =
To Americans confirmation simply
means a religious act. but in this coun-
try it signifies much more. To begin
with. boy or girl is not considered
'grown up' until the confirmation GER
emony has been gone thru. After the
confirmation the youths usually quit
school and start life on their own hook.
Confirmation day always means new
clothes for the candidate, presents from
friends. and relatives, and a family
party in the afternoon and evening.
Last but not least, kilograms should be
mentioned. Everybody related or con-
nected with a confirmation candidate
feels it duty to send him good wishes
! by telegraph, and the two first Sun
| days in October are therefore the bust
est and most lucrative days of the
whole year to the Norwegian telegraph
department. Extra receiving stations
and extra carriers are always put into
service on that day. so as to deliver
the messages in due time.
Another day of mark in October is
moving day, which comes on the 18th
this year. Christiania has only two
such days, one in April and one in Octo-
| Der. If you want to leave your fiat
in the fall, you must give notice thereof
to the landlord before June "a preced-
ing, and if you want to move in April,
notice must be given thereof before the
end of the foregoing year.
Only in exceptional cases and as a
matter of convenience do people move
on any other day. On the regular NOV.
ing days, therefore, the whole corps OF
moving vans and express wagons are
put into action, and many. a piece OF
furniture is injured for life on such
occasions. It is common sight to
see the loaded wagon standing outside
house with the members of the fam
lily surrounding it, anxiously waiting
for the other party to get out so al
to give them a chance to get into the
fiat they have rented. By the terms
of the lease, the outgoing party ha
the right of the fiat up to noon, ant
before that hour the next tenant hal
no right to move in, unless the matte
The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-02
BY w. .. Williams.

Special Correspondence.
Bismarck, Oct. 31.-No. hard wheat
and a whole lot of it has been one OF
the responsible agencies in making the
fall farm land business Of Bismarck
and Burleigh county whirlwind. Sew
eral years ago this fall, when | was In
this city, there was bunch of farm
land men about as disconsolate as one
would meent in a journey all over
the country. Some of them were ours.
ing their luck, and because they cursed
their luck, they also cursed the country.
Of recent years conditions have ma
terially changed, and now it appears
to the visitor in Bismarck as tho every
farmland dealer had been eating the
stuff which gives the "smile that won It
come of. - Upon looking around for
reasons why, it is found that business
has been exceptionally good in the
shape of a big movement OF new, ener'
getic farmers from the east, who have
put good amount Of energy and brain
matter into farming Of course the
natural result is success. Success has
been in the shape of large crops Of No
l hard wheat, as fine barley and a:
much to the acre as any place on thu
face of the earth; oats that have gone
sixty-fve bushels to the acre, and Hat
tering showing in the growth of corn.
All these things have brought arount
The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-02

Cate), made about two hundred and
seventy bushels per acre, and it is no
trouble at all to pick up twenty five to
thirty-fve that weigh sixty pounds and
every one is sound and fine. Yours truly,
-.s. 81. S. Green.'
The samples received are certainly
fine specimens and are pronounced by
those who tested them as possessing ex-
cellent flavor and of superior quality.
These are not irrigated potatoes, the
only moisture they received is what ma
ture supplied.
There is ready demand for such
quality of potatoes. l wish the reader
would take piece of paper and pencil
and figure out how much he would re-
ground that would produce 270 bushels
an acre, at 40 cents bushel (Which is
a low figure for such potatoes), and as
certain what he would receive for his
labor, even tho he did nothing else dur
ing the entire year.
Does your $50, 500 or 5000 eastern
land yield you such profit?
I do not know what this land, on
which these potatoes were raised, is
selling for, but I venture the assertion
! that it is not held, at the present time,
higher than 500 an acre, probably less.
I have heard the assertion made that
What an erroneous impression. North
Dakota produces them abundantly and
Of the best quality and variety.
/ The soil of this state produces sc
beautifully of all kinds of grains
! grasses and vegetables that it is i'm
possible to gather all the crop.
It is not so much a question OF yielo
as it is question Of help. This state
is unfortunate in this respect.
"a laborer is worthy Of his hire
but it is something astonishing thu
for day laborers. Whether it is du'
to the fact that 50 many Of the labor
ers 90 to work for themselves soon at
ter coming here, or the demand is great
er than the supply, is problem TO
solution. If the reader will perus
some of the letters from farmers re
produced on this page, he will be abl
to decide for himself why the me
prefer to work for themselves rathe
than for others.
Among the many reasons why we as]
, settlers to come to North Dakota an
: locate, we enumerate few:
r 1t is the best country known for tn
man of moderate means.
Its lands are reasonable and its So
3 rich.
!: It's lands are certain to produce e1
cellent and profitable crops.
| 1t has soil that will yield as abu1
}. dainty as can be found elsewhere. :,
n It offers opportunities for profitabl
e investment of capital.
T, It's climate is as healthful as can b
: found on the face Of the globe.
s It's educational advantages are 81
t perior and it's moral influences exec
q lent.
: It's new railroads will extend to a
i parts of the state and new towns an
3. industries will spring up daily.
It It has government land for the as
: ing and other lands at reasonab
. prices, which in a few years will
9 with drawn from market.
# If the thousands of small farmers ar
= merchants really knew of the varit
The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-02

Christiania, Norway, Oct, l6.-TwoI
gentlemen from New York have SPENT
a week in this city looking into the
management of public utilities, such as
telegraph, telephones, waterworks,
streetcars, etc. They came here from
many and France before returning. In
Norway nearly all the railway lines are
the property of the state or are con-
trolled by the state. The telephone
system, with the exception of few
private lines, is also state property.
The waterworks and gasworks are mu->
nicipal property exclusively. In Chris
tiania the electric lighting. plant is also
owned by the city. For five years the
Christiania municipality has also tried
its hand at running streetca-s, but it has
not proved a financial success. On the
contrary the undertaking has been quite
drain on the city treasury, and there
fore on Oct. 5 the city sold its street
car system to a private company.
Judging from the experience gained in
the streetcar business, it is very doubt
full if Christiania, or any other Nor
wegian city, will try to acquire any more
public utilities than they already have
charge of. In fact, there are good
many in favor of transferring some OF
the systems, now the property of the
city, to private companies. While there
is no money IN 1t tor the city, IL is
claimed that such companies could rem
der the public the same service for the
same, if not for less money, and still
make living out of the business.
Government ownership of telegraph,
telephone and railways is different
proposition, inasmuch as these means
of communication are maintained by
the government more for the accom-
mediation of the public than for
money making. In country with
the population scattered to such an ex-
tent as in Norway, many OF the rural
districts will necessarily remain a loss
instead of gain on the books Of these
systems, and therefore if the state did
not undertake the establishment of such
utilities, no private individuals could
be induced to put their money into the
enterprise as the chance of profit is
altogether too small and uncertain.
The two New Workers worked hard
while here and left no stone unturned
to get to the bottom of the facts, both
in regard to state. municipal and pri-
vate ownership. and if they are able to
gather as much facts and statistics in
the larger European countries as they
did in Christiania, they will be experts
on those subjects by the time they re-
turn to America. One of them will not
unpark his statistical trunks in New
York, but will take it ALL beside what
he carries in his head, right to Min
neapolis, where he formerly lived fol
a short while. Therefore there is g
very good prospect that the people OF
Minneapolis will, the coming winter, re
The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-02
Ransom County
Takes the Plum
It Enjoys the Cream of the
States Farm Land Sales for
1905-Reasons Why. -,
BY w. A. Otis.


Special Correspondence.
a.. Lisbon, Nov. 1.-Toward the finish Of
1905 it looks like safe prediction that
Ransom county has carried of the
cream Of the state s farm land business
for the year. Of course final figures
will not be forthcoming until the year
is really past into history.
There are good many reasons why
Ransom has been the banner county of
the state during the year, and no one OF
them reflect any discredit whatever
upon other portions Of the state, but
they all place the county and it's immi-
grafton hustlers in the limeight.
In the first place Ransom county is
what the critics would. call A No. /.
Her lands have been unfailing in their
crops for several years past; it has been
conclusively shown that corn is almost
native Of the county and some OF the
finest specimens of corn grown IN the
northwest have come from Ransom coun-
ty. A souvenir eartin the writer's pos
session measures liz inches in length
and weighs 1S ouncese. This is the
same cora that is so popular in Illinois,
and which some Illinois men think no
other country can produce. ii
The second reason why Ransom coun-
| ty stands to the fore front is the con
-sistent and persistent, Intelligent way
in which her resourcese have been
unabated enthusiasm the land interests
of Ransom county have kept everlast:
ingly at it. Anything in the shape OF
publicity which could in any way bene
fit the county has been sliced and made
| to do it's utmost. These pushers of the
county, while being enthusiastic and I'M
firing i'm their efforts, have at all times
been conservative and very careful tt
make no statements in favor Of the
monstrate to, any man who might g
into Ransom county to look at the lands
The third reason is the eminent repu
1 tation that the county IS real estate mel
have built up for themselves for abso
lutte reliability and integrity in sthei
dealings with the buyer. The strong
4 legitimate farm land companies hav
frowned upon that greatest curse of tn
farm land business, the curb-ston
broker. To be successful in Ransom
county a man must have the best repu
buyers and must be established in tn
business. Otherwise he will find tina
those legitimate interests who hav
built themselves up in the county ar
combined in solid ranks to drive hi1
out Of business. They will not pei
NIT any man to live long in the farl
land business in Ransom county unles
he is absolutely on the square. If b
is on the square, he receives hearty CT
operation from all competitors. 81
| The fourth and last reason has buiI
| up the best advertisement the count
/ has, that is the satisfied customer.
is a notable fact that farmers Twin
astern states are the best land sale
men that the farm dealers have. s
The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-02
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES

came to him in great number. A
banquet was given in his honor at the
Grand hotel, in which nearly all the
leading men in Norway today partici-
pated. Premier Nicholson was there
and Foreign Minister Loevland deliv-
cred the principal Grafton in honor OF
the jubilant, stating that Sars. had been
the man who, years ago, had foretold
the things that now had happened in
Norway.
The students had torchlight pro,
cession in his honor, and when the aged
professor stepped out on the balcony
of the Grand hotel to receive them and
thank them for their courtesy, he was
received with an abundance of cheers
given as only university students can
When the professor finally chad the
foor,'' heo finished his little speech by
asking the students to give three cheers
for a happy future for old Norway, and
I need not say that they were given IN
manner not lacking in force and en-
thusiasm.
The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-02
NEW WORLD OPENS
In SAVAGE AFRICA
WONDERFUL EFFECT ON THE
CAPE TO CAIRO RAILROAD.
More Than Ten Million Square Miles
Of the Continent Now Claimed by
European Countries The Population
Is 13o,1s5,0oo, Mostly Negroes, but
They Are Going to the Wall.
BROOKLYN Eap1e.

Africa probably has been opened to
civilization more rapidly than any other
country. Few of us realize the strides
it has made in the past decade. In
the place Of unbroken iungles filled with
have arisen. Tall buildings and broad
streets noisy with the hum Of trade
mark the spots once deemed inaccessible
to the white man. Cape Town, the cap
ital of Cape Colony, coded to the Brit
lsh by the Dutch in 1915, was then an
unimportants village, dotting the out
skirts Of warlike tribes of natives. To-
day it is bustling with all the life Of
civilization and commerce, and its pop
Johannesburg, farther in toward the IN
terror, with population Of between
10000 and 10000, is another city of
the once Ozark Continent that is
opening the way to the unexplored re-
gions now made possible to the march
Of progress by the aggressive actions Of
Cecil Rhodes. And still further inroads
Will be made into this wonderful coun.
which the Cape to Cairo project IS the
pioneer. With the railroads.&c. great
est Of all civilizers-will come the con-
quest of the entire continent.
The great iron bridge which is the
most picturesque point of the Cape to
Cairo railway, spans the Zambesi river
at q height Of 420 feet above low water
crossing the gorge at Victoria Falls, and
is consequently the highest structure of
| the kind in the world, the second high
est being the Viaduct du Viaur in
France, with a height Of 375 feet. The
bridge is of the cantilever type, was
constructed in three spans on the grid
er pattern, and has width of thirty
feet. It was built by an English com
pany, the work being commenced stimuli
taneously from both banks of the river
an electric motor cable-the largest
ever used-with span. Of 900 feet, car
rying the material from one side to the
other. The height of the falls at thu
places known as Danger Point ani
Boiling Pot is 42O feet and the Width
Of the river above the cataracts il
fully mile, while the cleft in the plai1
thru which the water rushes narrow
! down in one spot to scarcely more thar
100 yards. Victoria Falls are consid
cred as one of the greatest sights il
the world.
The Cape to Cairo railway will com
meet Egypt with South Africa by a line
$500 miles long. From the north The
railway has reached Khartoum, dis
tance-allowing for the river gap be
1,400 miles. From Kaloma the line il
to be continued for $50 miles in north
easterly direction, and probably from
Tanganyika there will be two lines
one thru the Congo and another thr,
German territory. Good progress ha
been made with the railway north O.
the Zambesi, on the section known a
the northern extension, leading from
Victoria Falls to Kaloma. the admins
The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-02

KNEW WHAT HE WANTED. -
Customer want nine-shot revolver. q.
Gunsmith-We have nothing but five and SIX
shooters, sir. - Il
Customer-Won't do! II want to kill cat.
The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-02
ON THE BANKS OF WABASH
New York Press,

On the banks of the Wabash river a
new industry has sprung up. since that
stream was sung to death on the vaude-
vile stage and played to extinction by
restaurant orchestras. 1t is that OF
"pearling,' and has enlisted in the
work. hundreds Of men and women and
boys and girls who search for the fresh
water pearls, or .sslugs,'' as they are
known in the trade; that is, pearls in
their rough state.
It is not uncommon for the pearl
hunters to earn So day, and thus fa1
this work has been so profitable that
farmers along the river are complaining
of lack Of "hands" toh arvest their
crops. -".-' j. l.
Naturally most Of the pearls found
are small ones, but some have been
found that weigh 200 grains each and
it is the hope Of picking up one or more
of these big slugs that keeps the
"pearlers at work. The slugs are
sold to local dealers, who resell them tc
dealers in Maiden lane. One Of the
merchants on that street has thousands
Of the Wabash river pearls in stock.
The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-11-02

croaching on the original race. Thus in
Cape Colony the total population is
2, 4O5, $50, Of which 1,825,172 are me-
groes and 580,380 whites.