The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-12-15
The Red River
Of the North:

F. l. Whitley, former passenger traf-
fic manager of the Great Northern rail-
way, when asked for a paragraph or
two on the Red River country, respond
ed in terms indicating that the busy and
practical man of affairs often has
poetic, terse and interesting style in
expressing himself, as witness the fol-
lowing:
1T is not as wide as the Amazon,
as deep in it's bed as the Colorado, as
shallow as the Platte, as long as the
Mississippi, as clear as the Uruguay, as
muddy as the Missouri, as mighty as
the Niagara, as broken with islands as
the st. Lawrence, as picturesque as
the st. Louis, nor historic like the
Hudson and the Rhine, not romantic
like the Merrimac and the Mohaw, not
told in song lick Swanee and Dan
ube, not battle strained like the Iser
and the Tiber, not fed with mountain
SHOWS like the Columbia and the
Kootenai, nor lined with dense popu-
lation like the Thames and Seine;
not favored with government aid as
literally as the Tombigbee and Noxu-
bee-yet the Red River of the North
cuts somewhat of figure in the west
ern hemisphere.
ut is placid stream as a rule and
knows its own business. 1t is nearly
500 miles long; it is navigable for quite
two thirds of its length; It runs north
ward greater distance than any other
stream on earth, except the Nile, of
which it is the prototype in fertile be-
longings; it forms the boundary line
between Minnesota and North Dakota.
1t has a sky as blue as that over
Italy, as bright with stars at night as
that over Chaldean plains which gave
birth to astronomy 1T has summer
air that never depresses; a winter air
that invigorates but never chills or
gives man the shivers; it never has
the long spells of miserable muddy
roads common in the eastern and
southern states.
1t Is noted as running through the
finest wheat producing country in the
globe; it has the conditions of making
butter and cheese and raising poultry;
it has no stony ground to provoke the
wrath of the farmer; the plowshare
cuts the sod as the swift yacht cleaves
the water; it has to the east the largest
force of pine in the country, and mines
of iron and copper; it has to the west
the natural domain and home of the
sheep raiser and wool producer, of the
horse and cattle raiser; and still be-
yond the mountains with mines of
Alaska and the Orient; it has to the
north a mighty empire of land and
vast possibilities; it has to the south
no competition in the production of
mans best food, grain.
1T has newspaper press worthy
of it's greatness; it has schools, church
and market facilities; it has more
banks than some of the Older states OF
the union; it has people enjoying n
larger percapita income than the popu-
lation of any equal agricultural area
in the world, and yet the valley is not
half coupled; it has the main line and
various branches of the Great Northern
railway, affording transportation ia
cilities; it makes the Great Northern
the largest caterer of wheat from orig
inal points o fanny railroad in exist
ence, and finally, let me say, that the
Red River Valley is all right. And
North Dakota-well, she's all right, too.
The records of the scale beam, the
overlooking elevator bins and the bal
ance on the right side of the bank led
gers all show remarkable growth and
Perhaps it is the intention to add
Poultney Bigelow's remarks to that
canal message as a sort
of comic supplement.
Judge Grosscup's declaration that
the. Roosevelt message is a crazy-quilt
indicates that the remarks on judicial
decisions must have hit the judicial
crazy-bOne.
: Commissioner Garfield points to the
abandonment Of rebates following his
oil report as an evidence of the value