The Virginia enterprise., 1906-06-01

WRITES ENTERTAiNN6lYOF Of THE RANGE

WHITES ENTERTAlkiN6lY OF the RANCE
Sspefiat eadeat Bliss Portrays Many
ldvantages ef This Sectioa. 4.
The June mum Der Of School Kdu..
caelon, ublished at Minneapolis:
col1tains an Interesting article upon:
he Mesabi Iron Range. from the
psil of Lafayette Bliss, superintends 8
elAfsof schools of District No. 20. Af-=
texan Interesting review Of st. Lou
ssEot.nty and Of its mineral re-;
sqNfees including valua BILE data.
an Illustrated BY several views
sfs.Ring the methods Of mining Mr..
BlIes writes entertainingly Of the.
cAnatic ccondi itions, the agricultural
paesib bilities and the thrifty charac-.
teAetics Of the people Of the section
aalfol l1ows: ==-s3...
lie the lesson Of history that
THY highest civilization and the.
n1lsost perfect development of home.
lifecansbe= found only in those parts
.ofihe world where the climate.
folces people to dig cellars and
store up food fora part Of the year,
ethe bee; and where for a part:
otathe year families are kept in
.doprs, 80 that the father, mother,
ard children become acquainted:
with one another. The winter cli-
mate on the range is ideal, ,zand the.
sumner climate is more invigorat-
i than. an ceansvoyage. The av-.
erage number of sunshiny days in
a Year for our state at large is $50;
ongfhe range we average 213 days.
Irne, in the winter the cold is quite
STEADY, but this is preferable to the
altArnating days of freezing and.
:thawing, so common farther south.
limo part of our state does outdoor
work move on more vigorously all
Writer, than on the range. Carpen-
teri, brick-layers, stone masons and
=moet classes of laborers have lost
-noatime this winter on account Of
coH weather-in fact the erection.
of Prick buildings and frame dwell
sini has gone on all winter in the
raHge towns the same as tho it was
SUI inner time. Sawmills, by means
of IA few steam pipes, keep lakes
Efroh freezing over, that the open
waterway be used to. float the. logs
to the mills. On the range the snow
does not pile up in great drifts,
hence it is not necessary for the To-
con1otives to wear. snow plows, and
trains are not blockaded. We are
out of the cyclone belt in summer,
which adds to our peace of mind.
The climate on the range has been
much maligned and il is high time
that the truth be spoken - r. =
: THE soil in northeastern Mime
sofa has been much misunderstood.
It has been reported to be devoid of
those qualities necessary for the
food dof plants. This also is mis-
statement Of the facts. Last suns
mer the writer had growing in his
yard the finest and most nutritious
grass that he has ever seen any
where. else in the state, and he has
been in every county zof the state.
In his garden the writer grew last
year potatoes, onions, carrots, tur-
nips, cucumb bers, radishes, lettuce,
cabbage, parsnips, sage, ETC., etc,
that would make the gardener in
the southern part Of the state wish
for the long sunshiny days of the
range country. Flowers, such as
golden glow rosesseveral varie-
ties, nasturtiurns, pansies, sweet
peas, asters, daisies, morning glor-
ies, sweet elysiu1n, lobelia, etc,
were also grown and blossomed
profusely; and this too on soil that
had not before been cultivated since
the ancient pine forest was felled a
few years ago. Shade trees of the
soft varieties shoot up from one to
Ave feet the FIRST year. Wheat thrives
ia this climate and coil, and car. be
grown SEQ miles to the north of the
range. .=.s.=ssszs
sAs q rule the people Of Minnesota
do not take pride enough ia the fact
that our state is the greatest miner
al producing state ia the Union. OF
the one. hundred mines, kenetic and
potential, on the Mesabi range, the
five largestthe Mountain From, Ma
honing, Fayal, Adams, and Steven
.son-can prod as much oresin
eight months as Spain prod ucesin
ayear. The n fountain Iron output
alone equals that Of the whole of
81 the ore mined annu-
ALVIN the state az Alabana; orwhat