The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-05-11
TOWNS GROW LIKE MAGIC ALONG
TILE NEW RAILWAYS.
Vast Regions that Have Hitherto Been
Only sparsely Settled Now Filling
B UP as Track Laying Operations
Progress.
~ HERBERT vANpERHooF.

| value upon value, until 1t has reached
! s1o2, 0o0, 900; that portion of the national 4
debt bearing interest is equaled by the 4
increased value of the farms IN nine
months, and this increase for little
over a wear balances the. entire interest
and non-interest bearing debt Of the
United States"
| James J. Hill, the great railroad mag
nate, of whom it may be truthfully salo
that no man ever had a clearer fore- 4
sight of the future Of the West, not long
ago said
.'The wears are not many before every
acre Of land in the West ana a., N9 e s1So
that will raise corn will sell for Sloo
per acre." ~
In the above two statements may De
found the source OF insplra.lon ~. ~ +ior
that has set in toward South Dakota
and when saw and heard OF tne thouo
sands and thousands of new settlers VINO
are pouring into that rich agrlculturad,
state their truth was rorcibly impressed
mon INV mind. For South Dakota, IN
J spite of the marvellous richness OF lts
lands, is still most sp s +o3es ~
A the west where, the new settler may
4 either get a free homestead or buy land
4 at a merely nominal price
4 Conditions Rapidly Passing Away
These ara conditions that are bound to
pass away soon. AS settlers pour n diu
4 take up the lands values are steaoliy
1 rising and must continue to rise uh.il
thew approximate in value the lands III
n older settled states. AS an illustrator
of this fact, thousands Of acres or scnool
\ land which the state sold a few years
h ago for less than SIS per acre are now
4 valued at anywhere from $50 to Wv an
I acre. and it will not be many years o e.
u fore these same lahos VIII VIC aNo-
\ | $500 an acre. WIN
\ It is not only the new settlers VINO
4 are taking up the lands OF South DaKota.
4 Many of the keen students OF LAND values
l in the East and middle West who nave
money to invest are taking advantage
of the low prices at which South Dakota
lands can be purchased al. ana are ihVg These
men rent their lands out to men VINO nave
not the means to buy themselves, ana
take share of the crop as their paym EN-;
A This Is an arrangement that WORKS WelA
both ways The owner gets good m
terest rate on his investment, while the
man who works the farm has an oppor-
aun niace 20 Of his own. When it is con.
sidered that on the low priced lanos o., ..
I the state one seasons crop Will geneIally
pay for the land, 1t IS easy 70 see % me ne
> 4 the renter Of today is the owner OF the
: I next year or two.
It is not alone in farm lands, however,
: u that the newcomers to South Dakota are
0 H is the Incentive that draws the greater
z part Of the new settlers to the stare
Il Today the most remarkable railway de-
: 4 velopment that has ever taken place IN
;. \ the Northwest is going on IN South "a
9 kota, and this year the state will lead
e all other states in the Union in the new new
o l new mileage is being constructed as feed
r ers to- the existing systems ana pene-
f trates into districts In which land has
!, hitherto ruled: at low. prices because
- 4 Of the distance the farmer has had to
&c haul his produce to the railways before
s. he could obtain a market. But a CON
siderable. portion. of. the new mileage has
been plann<2 Ns an extension Of the mail
4 fines Of road and Is opening up the mos
fertile country in the world to the set
- tlers-regions from which they have
hitherto been debarred because, there was
no way to reach them, except by horse:
back or wagon. -5t p IT. ..
Towns Grow, Like Magic.
- Fast as the railways are building; thu
settlers are coming still raster. All aione
- these new lines OF road towns are spring
m 4 ers are hardly out Of sight when trail
"A loads Of lumber are emptied on the spo
81 4 where they working a rev hour,
A 4 before and the sound of the hammer AM
n the saw busted in the erection Of build
# 4 ings Is heard. In a few weeks there l
II an elevator, a bank or two, and q dozel
or more buildings, with stocks OF mer
chandise to supply the needs Of the EN-
(bryo community. From every train tina
enters the town there will be dozen Q
more land buyers alighting and as ia
HAS tle- eye Gull lSdClA AoA LII AiOuSCo Oh
farm building will be seen in the cours
4 Of constructions.
This is not a fanciful or exaggerate
\ sketch OF the activity that is observabl
in South Dakota today. Yet with all thl
4 activity there is nothing OF the boom
nature observable. The men who al
coming into the state IT,. are coming e.,
They want land and there is no othe
place they know of where they can 81
~ oh I
Id immigrants is that nearly all Of thel
M are men Of American birth from the oldt
ID settled states. indiana, Illinois, low
their best blood and Drawn to Sou1
Dakota The men from these states a
znzza selling out their lands at anywhere fro
- 500 to $50 per acre and are putting the
- money into South Dakota, lands at an.
"a where from SIS an acre up. WI
the money they take up there tn
n double and quadruple their land holdin
u Ia back Of them. Out of the half MILL
d population of the state the census Of Ia
H year showed only about 10 per cent
n foreign birth.
~ Climatic Conditions Are Ideal.
The subject Of climate is one that j
rs 81 terests every person nleditating a chan
" 81 of location, and Of this it can be trut
:. n fully said that every section OF Sou
T E Dakota, has pleasant and healthful e
lg @ matte conditions. It is called the ISL
Ia shine state, and has few cloudy
ID gloomy days. When 1t rains 1t raj
ne 81 and when it is done 1t clears up. 7
81 following official figures are suggesti'
B South Dakota has 2,944 hours Of ST
n II shine annually; California. Ala; 10y
BJ b 2.545; Minnesota, 2548; Wisconsin, "a
:. 81 Illinois. Elise.
~ This sunshine is what makes the st
Ia the great wheat and corn country tt
it is, and which is destined to ms
), 81 It the greatest in the Union, as. Its me
: Ia millions OF acres Of now vacant land
: Ul1~,.o I,,a1 1ryf
81 cultivation. In general the spring op
60 early Ii, March, and from that time
| til the harvest. late in July. the weat
is temperate, with plenty Of rain. 7
hottest days, as a. rule, are at the
of June and the first Of July. Howe
hot the days may be- the evenings |
nights. are always cool and delight
s Usually at the harvest season the Wea
er becomes dry and there is but II
6 i rain until the following spring.
~ AS the rule the winters have