Free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1888-1908, 1906-03-10
IMPRESSED WITH
WESTERN CANADA.
Says Our Prairies Will BE Filled Up
In Ten Years.

says our TfdtfieS Will sc FllsSo Up
In Ten Years
l. A. Stockwen of Indianapolis, a
United States land man who made an
extensive tour of inspection In the
west, wrote the following article. IN
der date of Jan. s, for an Indiana pub
LEGATION:
States" In this letter I propose
to show by extracts from my note
book that thousands who have come
up here from the States" have sue
ceeded far beyond their most san
guine expectations.
Mr.. N. E. Beaumunk of Brazil. In
diana, was earning $4,000 per month
with a coal company. At about the
age of 40 he had saved about So, 600.
Four years ago he landed near Han
ley, Sask. He now owns 4S0 acres of
land. Last fall (1905) he threshed
400 bushels of wheat and 300 bush
els of oats. His wheat alone brought
him over $4,000. which would have
paid for the acres that it grew on.
He is to-day worth $4,000.
This Is Making Money Fast.
In Feb. 1902, ]. G. Smith & Bro.
were weavers in big cotton mill in
Lancashire, England Coming here
they arrived in Wapella, Sask., with
only $4,000 between them. They
were so green" and inexperienced
that all they could earn the first sum
mer was $500 per month, and the first
winter they had to work for their
board. The next year, 1908, they took
homesteads, and by working for neigh
Tors, they got a few acres broken out,
upon which the next year they raised
a few hundred bushels Of wheat and
oats. They also bought a team and
broke out about sixty acres more In
1905 they threshed 100 bushels of
wheat from it, and 1900 bushels of
oats. Their success being then as
sured they borrowed some money,
built a good house, barn and nipple
ment shed, and bought a cream sepa-
rator, etc. They now have a dozen
COWS. some full-blooded pigs and
chickens, good teams and implements
to match and are on the high road TO
prosperity Here are three cases
selected from my note book from
among a score of others. One a mine
boss, one farmer, and one factory
operator With each of them l took
tea and listened to their story. 81
hoped to better my condition" said
one. 4 thought in time might make
a home,'' said another 81 had high
expectations" said the other, and all
said that Il never dreamed it possible
to succeed as l have"
Like Arabian Nights.
Everywhere, on the trains, at the
hotels and in the family l have been
told successes that reminded ME more
Of the stories in the Arabian Nights
than of this matter-of-fact workaday
world. Yields of wheat from 35 to
SO bushels per acre. and of oats of
from so to leo bushels, are numerous
IN every locality and we'll authenti-
Gated At Moose Jaw, Leth5ridge
Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Brandon.
Hanley and many intermediate places
l saw cattle and young horses fat as
our granted animals of the States"
that had never tasted grain, and
whose cost to their bwners was
almost nothing. At Moos@min | saw
train load of 400 steers en- route to
England. that were shaky fat. raised
as above stated. If the older genera
ton of farmers in Indiana. who have
spent their lives in a contest with
logs and stumpS as did their fathers
before them, could see these broad
prairies dotted with comfortable
homes. large red barns. and straw,
piles innumerable. and the thriving
towns with their towering elevators
jammed to the roof with No. l hard, I"
and then remember that four or five
years ago these plains We're tenantless
but for the badger and coyote. they
would marvel at the transformation.
Then if they followed the crowds as
they emerged from the trains and
hurried to the land offices, standing
in line until their respective turns to
be waited on came, and saw with
hat rapidity these lands are being
taken, they would certainly catch the
disease" and want some of It too.
If these lands are beautiful in mid
winter. with their long stretches of
yellow stubble standing high above
the snow what must they be in sum-
mer time when covered with growing
or ripening grains? Speaking of win
ter reminds me that our Hoosier
friends shrug their shoulders when
they read in the Chicago and Mime
apolis dailies of the temperature up
here For that very reason l am here
this winter The Canadian literature,
with its pictures half tones and sta
tistics, gives a good idea of her re-
sources, but thirty or forty degrees
below zero sounds dangerous to a
Hoozier. who nearly freezes IN Il tenn
peratuFe OF five above, especially
when accompanied by a wind, as it
often is. but the fact is, when it is
very cold here it is still and the air
being dry the cold is rot felt as it is
in our lower ATTITUDES, where there is
more humidity in the atmosphere /
am 56 and l never saw finer winter
than the one l an spending up here /
arrived in Winnipeg Nov. 9, and have
70: had the bottoms Of my overshoes
wet since | entered Canada Under a
cloudless sky I have ridden in sleighs
nearly u Thousand miles. averaging a
drive, every other day. Stone masons
have not LOST weeks time so far
this winter. Building of all kinds
goes right ahead in every city and